


Worlds Apart

by TrickIsTrash



Series: Bruce Finds Love [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Awkward Sexual Situations, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce Banner-centric, Comic Canon, F/M, He will be loved damnit, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Science Bros, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2018-10-17 15:19:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 47,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10596729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrickIsTrash/pseuds/TrickIsTrash
Summary: Bruce Banner was a man of solitary. He kept to himself and stayed bubbled in his own world. So it's only natural that it would take someone out of this world to finally break through his shell and teach him to love again.





	1. Chapter 1

Alone...

Separate. Apart. Isolated.

What did it mean to be alone?

Solitary. Only. Without help.

That's how she felt right now. She wandered down the winding gravel path, staggering with each careful step she took. She was hurt and she was... Alone. She did not know where she was but she couldn't stop. Not with THEM chasing her. Those fearful creatures who had hurt her. Vibrant blue blood was oozing out of the many cuts and stabs to her grey skin. Her hair that fell past her hips was once a shimmering and stark white was now dirtied and darkened. She stopped by a large tree to rest hoping that it would hide her frame. It was hard to blend in when all the humans were so tiny. She stood over them without even trying. She had found humans stopped growing at 5 or 6 feet which was so small compared to her 8 foot height and wide stature.

She inhaled deeply. She'd be alright. She'd be okay. She could do this. She was sure.

She tried to shrink into herself when she heard noise. She peeked out from behind the tree. Atleast those men were easy to distinguish, they all wore a matching uniform proudly adorned with the word R.U.P.T.U.R.E. She refused to be found. She refused to go back into that dark organisation where they cut and hurt her. Not when the sky was so blue and the sun was so warm. She had almost forgot her predicament as she admired the sky before she was bought back into reality, hearing heavy footsteps and voices.

She braced herself and took off. She was fast. She was strong. She would NOT be captured. Not again. She ran and weaved between the trees, feet soaring across the ground as her hair whipped around her. Faster. Faster. Faster. She made her way to a clearing away from the noise, away from the sound of danger. She ran so fast she almost fell when she came to a sudden halt. She blinked her bubblegum pink eyes in confusion at the sight in front of her. It was a human. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and he looked so young. This human couldn't be more then a freshly grown adult, maybe even younger. She scanned him for any signs of danger or R.U.P.T.U.R.E logo but honestly he looked just as confused as her.

She stumbled back in surprise as the young human suddenly lit up in excitement. He made some type of gasping noise and fumbled through his pockets. She raised her fist ready in case he drew a weapon but instead he pulled out a piece of paper unfolding it eagerly. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

"Hello unidentifed lifeform! I am Field Agent Alfred Redgrave of the organisation C.O.D.E.X!" His nervous voice cracked as he stood with tensed shoulders gripping his paper a little too hard.

"Do not be alarmed! I'm sure you are confused but C.O.D.E.X is here to help! Our organisation helps individuals such as yourself and-"

She stopped listening and took the time to analyse him. She wanted to giggle but held it in. He was so cute! Whatever he was doing he was doing his best. Suddenly she heard a bang from within the area she came from, she glided towards him, filling the gap between them and placing a gentle finger on his lips.

"You are good yes?"

He nodded hastily as he gazed up at her.  
"Bad people are chasing me. Will you help me?" She asked in a soothing voice, trying to help calm the nerves she knew he was feeling. His eyes widened as he grinned, snatching up her large hand in his small gloved one and tugging her along.

"My plane is this way!"

A few feet away and with the click of a button she saw a small sized jet suddenly appear. They climbed in and he sat in the drivers seat strapping himself in, she imitated his movements with her own seatbelt and after some fumbling clicked it into place. They took off with ease and she finally allowed herself to breath calmly.

She was safe.

Looking at her new found companion she smiled at him before gazing out the window. She relaxed and felt her wounds start to slowly heal. She had almost fallen asleep when she was shocked out of her daze by the humans scream.

"Dude I can't believe this! It's my very first mission and I find an alien right off the bat!? Oh man do you have any idea how great this is for me?!"

"O-oh I do not." She let out an uneasy smile as she gave him her full attention.

"This means l really am as awesome as I thought I was! Maybe I'll even get a promotion?! It's all thanks to you! I could kiss you! Do you even know what that is? Oh hey you speak English so that's a start! What's your name?!" He seemed to speak a mile a minute. Apparently by following him she had done something good so for the moment she was happy with helping him.

"My name is..." She paused. Was it safe to give out her real name? She wasn't sure. She had been so trusting before and that didn't go as smoothly as she had liked. "You may call me Wild Star."

"Wild Star huh? That's a pretty cool name! You and me Star! We are gonna go places! Hehe! Just wait til I rub this in Derek's face back at base!" His grin and enthusiasm was contagious she couldn't help laughing along with him. She was excited for whatever he was excited for.

As they flew Alfred took on a semi serious tone and explained C.O.D.E.X to her. It stood for: Corporation Obtaining Details to Everything Xeno. It was an organisation that's only goal was to find knowledge. C.O.D.E.X was founded on the belief that knowledge was the greatest treasure of all and they were dedicated to obtaining every piece of information they could find. He told her how he was a rookie field agent. He just started but he had big dreams to rise along the ranks and be someone important some day. She decided she liked this human. She could trust him.

She watched in awe as the ground seemed to open up and their jet descended into the earth, the light above them disappeared as the roof closed back up. He hopped out of the jet and once again took her hand as they climbed out.

"Alfred."

"Yes?"

"My name is Solerah."

\-------------------- 60 Years Later ----------------------

The years seemed to go by in a flash. Solerah was given shelter and had found a place in C.O.D.E.X. She was given a simple civilian name in case of emergencies to match her simple civilian appearance. In her human form she had short and choppy light brown hair and deep blue eyes. Her skin was olive and she stood at 5'4 and if she admitted to herself she liked the change, it was new and exciting and scary even. This weak form was so easy to hurt and bleed. She couldn't use any of her abilities in it either but she made due and took on the world with a smile.

She had ended up staying close to Alfred becoming a team and she stood by him as he became greater and greater and rose through the ranks of C.O.D.E.X eventually becoming Director of the entire facility. By default she had risen the ranks too being his most trusted agent. She had asked him several times if he wanted her to age with him, knowing if she so desired she could change her human appearance and allow it to age. Her species lived much longer then any human. Each time he turned her down and said how good it was to have her in her peak on the field. So she simply stopped asking and continued on her merry way always avoiding the odd looks of the people who didn't know of their history and wondered why an old man was so close to a young woman. They had become best friends over the years, they had become family. She felt it safe to say she could call her life on Earth happy, even with a nagging feeling that something was missing that she could never quite put her finger on.

Solerah crept through the halls with a bright smile and a cake in hand. She quietly entered Alfred's room and placed the cake delicately on the bedside table. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFIE!" Solerah screamed as she bounced onto Alfred's bed. "GET UP IT'S TIME TO PARTY!" She pulled a party popper and an explosion of rainbow streamers fell into Alfred's dulling blonde grey hair. He reached for his glasses and sat up, an annoyed expression plastered on his face.

"Star. It's too early for this." 

"Oh Alfie it's never to early to party! Now come here!" She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him before pulling away and began lightly bopping him on the arm with her fist. "BIRTHDAY PUNCHES!" She grinned at him excitedly and presented him with his cake. Alfred gave in and grinned back at her taking a piece of cake and biting into it.  
"We'll have to party later I have a lot of work to do and so do you Star."

"But Alfie it's your birthday."

"I know but I didn't get to where I am by slacking."

"Yeah fiiiine."

"Don't worry I promise we'll party later but I've a big mission today. I'm hoping to bring a new scientist into our ranks."

"Yeah? Must be someone neat if you're going." 

Solerah was stuffing her face with cake as she spoke. 

"What's his name?"

"Robert Bruce Banner."


	2. Chapter 2

Solerah was walking down the hallway, quietly singing to herself as she carried some folders that needed filing. She squeaked when she heard a loud bang, flailing her arms in the air and dropping the folders to brace herself as the hallway shook slightly. Next thing she knew she saw agents running down the corridor in terror.

"Daniel?" She questioned as he ran skidding past her. That was new... "Roy? Oomph!" She steadied herself against the wall as he bumped into her shoulder. Roy never liked her despite her best efforts to change his mind. He turned to her and she raised her eyebrows in confusion as he suddenly forcefully grabbed her shoulders and pushed her towards the direction he was running away from. 

"You!"

"Me?!"

"Go fight that thing before it destroys the entire base!" He yelled as he kept pushing her harshly. "What thing? Roy what's happening?!" She allowed him to keep shoving her forward as she tried to get information. With one final push he stepped away from her. "In Lab 14. A monster. You're a monster too go kill it." He demanded as he glared at her before running away.

Solerah sighed. A monster... Roy was always calling her that. She wished she could change his mind and she tended to let him push her around to prove him wrong. She got caught up in her thoughts as another loud bang echoed across the hall scaring her out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Right! The monster!"

She started running, weaving her way through the hall and agents running in the opposite direction. Her earpiece started vibrating and she clicked it.

"Talk to me Alfie! What's happening? I'm running to it now."

"It's Doctor Banner." His voice was rushed and she could hear him barking out muffled orders to others. He was trying to do damage control.

"Banner... Banner... Banner..." She slowed as she ran, trying to concentrate on where she heard that name before.

"Oh for God's sake Star the angry green guy!"

"Ohhh Banner!"

"Yeah 'ohhh Banner' well he's the hulk now!"

"I see. So what should I do?"

"Code CC24. Good luck."

The line went dead. Code CC24. She was too contain and capture. She could do that... Probably! Solerah vaguely remembered reading this Banner's file. Alfred had bought him into CODEX promising he only wanted him for his mind. Bruce would be free to research and document whatever he wanted to his hearts content and with the additional perk of having the security to keep the military off of his back Bruce couldn't say no. That had been months ago and she guessed this was his first incident. She finally reached lab 14 and noted the many 'do not disturb' signs on the door. She mentally apologised to the signs as shifted to her true form and she ran in.

"Ohhh myyy."

The sight in front of her was something else that was for sure. The braver agents were still there, shooting at the green behemoth, trying to keep distance as he swatted them away like flies. She caught the eyes of the beast and stared in shock. 

This is no mindless beast...

His eyes and his actions confirmed this. She had seen monsters before and he was not one. Agents with smaller guns ran out when they saw her, knowing she would be better off fighting him and she was thankful. She didn't want anyone hurt. Her eyes widened at one of agents who pulled out a large gun. "HEY!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, halting both the agent and the hulk as she jogged over. "What are doing?!" She lightly pushed him, taking the gun out of his hands. "Get out of here!" She screamed putting on her sternnest voice. She watched him leave and then turned to the hulk. She knew she was suppose to be fighting him and stopping him, but she just couldn't. She decided to try her own way. 

"It's okay. It's okay now. Their gone. No one is going to hurt you." Her demeanour immediately changed from stern to gentle as she cautiously approached him. The hulk glared at her, eyes locked onto the gun she was holding. She saw this and bought her knee up and her hands down snapping the large weapon in half and dropping it to the floor. "See? It's okay. No danger here." She remembered in the files apparently the hulks intelligence varied between many things. Sometimes it was the circumstance of his transformation but mostly it was his anger levels. Maybe if she could calm him down a little she could help him.

"LEAVE HULK ALONE" His voice boomed and his spit flew spraying her face. Okay, that was gross but she ignored it and continued. "I'm not gonna leave you alone buddy. You look like you need a friend." She stepped carefully towards him, her hands raised to prove she had no weapons.

"Hulk has no friends. Just want to be left alone."

Well he was talking! That seemed to be a good start!

"Okay... I hear you. But counter point, everyone needs friends! I think we should be friends. So hi Mr Hulk! I am Agent Wild Star!" She grinned putting her hand forward for him to shake.

Hulk stared her down. No one he met had reacted to him this way before. What WAS she? He had never seen a human like this before. Her colours were different and she was standing tall almost at his full height. He leaned forward, ignoring her hand and pressed his nose against the hair that cascaded down her neck. Solerah tensed slightly but did her best to relax. She didn't know what was happening but she didn't want to risk setting him off. Her face scrunched in confusion as he inhaled deeply.

She didn't smell human but she didn't smell like himself either. She didn't smell like anything he had known. He leaned back and looked at her again, trying to evaluate her as best as his mind could. Solerah just stood there, letting him with a tense smile. This was not anger therefore this was good, at least she assumed so.

"Hahahaaaah whoa there friend slow down!" She let out a nervous laugh as she quickly jolted away. He licked her. He. Licked. Her. She touched her cheek and the side of her neck and felt the warm and sticky thick saliva. "Okay see friends don't just go around licking friends!" She raised her index finger and scolded him.

Hulk just tilted his head and stared at her in confusion. He had never been scolded before. Yelled at, shot at, screamed at but not scolded. He still couldn't work out what she was by her taste either but he did like her. He liked her scent. He decided she wasn't a threat at least. He watched her rapidly rub her face with her forearm. She was a strange creature. He detected no signs of malice or ill will at him so he relaxed just the slightest.

"Hulk sick of fighting back."

She stopped rubbing herself and looked up, surprised at this confession. She was NOT expecting that. Quickly she rolled with it hoping to defuse everything. Throwing all caution to the wind she stepped closer to him and rested her hand on his muscular shoulder. "You must be huh? You don't deserve having everyone chase you around just because they don't understand you."

Hulk looked at the hand on his shoulder and mirrored the action, placing his large palm on hers and looked into her eyes. "Hulk never understands. Tired of guns and men and noise."

She nodded and smiled genuinely. "I'll bet you are. It's okay. There are no more men aiming their guns at you here. I've got you Hulk. I'll protect you."

One on side Hulk wanted to scoff. Him needing protection? He was the strongest there was! He was almost offended. But on the other side he looked at this being and felt she was telling the truth. He felt... Safe... He wanted her to feel the same way around him.

"Hulk protect..." He didn't like Agent Wild Star it was too long, it felt wrong when he tried to pronounce it. "Star. Hulk protect Star. Hulk strong!" He stood tall and flexed his muscles to prove his point.

Solerah smiled at him earnestly. This was the last thing she was expecting to happen. She laughed softly. "Okay. Yeah, Hulk can protect Star. I'd like that. We'll protect eachother."

She could see his skin flicker and feel him start to slowly shrink in her hand. She did it! She was great! She was awesome! She was... Horrified! The door slammed open as she saw Roy suddenly appear. Grinning as he held up an advanced fire grenade that the CODEX weapon tech created.

"ROY NO!"

It was too late he threw it and ran. She felt the changes stop and quickly grasped his cheeks as the explosion went off. "It's okay! It's okay! She shouted over the blast and held him tightly so he wouldn't jump away. There was no way the grenade or fire would be enough to damage the Hulk since she knew it couldn't even damage her! What was Roy thinking! Hulk growled and clenched her waist tightly, ready to shield her from more potential danger. "Shhh! Shhh! It's okay Hulk! Look at me! Look at me!" She moved close looking at his eyes as the fire burned around them, it only felt like a minor hot scratch to her. "This will pass. It's nothing to run from. Remember what I said? I'll protect you! I've got you. So please calm down."

Hulk didn't know why he believed her but he did. Holding her tightly he looked into her wide pink eyes and ignored the flames. When they were over he hunched over and started transforming back, still holding her. Solerah transformed herself too so she would stay the appropriate height compared to him to comfort him, Bruce probably also didn't want to see another monster when he came back.

They both sank to the floor, Star on her knees and Bruce on his butt with his knees pressed against his chest, curled into what Solerah could only describe as a sad little ball. At this point Bruce had his head pressed against her neck, he was breathing heavily and grasped at her back with one hand, he was squeezing so tightly she could feel a dull pain in her frail human body. She carded her hands through his hair comfortingly and softly spoke calming words to him.

Bruce didn't know what was happening but right now he needed the reassurance of this stranger.

Footsteps echoed across the room as Alfred and a few high ranked agents stepped in. Alfred stopped and held his arms up, stopping the agents from proceeding, standing still back at the door and watching the scene play out. When Bruce finally calmed down enough he raised his head and pulled away, meeting her eyes and became aware of everything. He looked over at Alfred who was taking his jacket off and coming towards them and the agents who were shifting awkwardly and looking at anything but them. Confusion sank in as he looked at the girl who was previously comforting him. A blush quickly rose up from his neck as he looked her up and down and then bolted his head up to look at the ceiling. "I'm sorry!" He squeaked, he wasn't sure if his voice cracked from being hoarse from the hulk or from embarrassment.

Alfred had quickly pulled Solerah up to stand and wrapped his jacket around her. The fire had burned away at their clothes leaving them both sitting on the cold tiled floor naked. Alfred began ushering her out, seemingly caring more that she was naked then Solerah did. By this time one of the agents had grabbed a fire blanket out of one of the safety kits and handed it to Bruce. He quickly wrapped it around himself as he looked at the girl one more time as Alfred was pushing her gently out the door. She looked back at him and smiled.

"I mean hey let's face it, there are worse reasons to wake up next to someone naked and confused!" Her smile turned into a toothy grin as Alfred sighed and pulled her away. Bruce just gawked at the girl even more embarrassed as he held the blanket tighter around himself. He heard her laughter echo as agents started talking to him but he couldn't focus on them, he could only focus on the question of what just happened that was running through his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright whoo! Third chapter up! I'm so nervous and excited about this! I've been working on this idea for a few months now and I'd really appreciate a review if you could and tell me how I'm doing and if you like it! Thanks and enjoy!

Bruce watched over the security footage. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Who was this girl? How could she calm the other guy enough to coax him to transform back. Why wasn't she afraid...? What... Was she? He rewound the video and watched her transformation closely, pausing it when it was complete. He eyed her, as if staring at the picture harder would give him the answers he wanted.

He rewound the tape and watched the scene play out again. It didn't matter anyway. He'd probably never see her again. Everything she said then was probably out of fear or her own protection. That was what Bruce TRIED to convince himself to think despite the sincerity in her eyes and voice. Yeah. It didn't matter. She was gone now.

He shook out of his thoughts when he heard a rapid knock on his door. He turned away from his monitor and stared at the door. No one ever bothered him. It was part of what he liked about C.O.D.E.X. The door opened without his verbal consent for the person to enter and his eyes widened when he saw the girl from before poke her head and arm through the half opened door.

"Heeeeeey, Bruce Banner right?" She smiled at him as she entered the lab seeing it was him. She looked around at the lab with interest as he stared at her. He quickly scrambled to click out of the security footage when she approached him. "Hey there." She said with such ease that Bruce was at a loss for words as she pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. She watched him and raised her eyebrows at him and grinned. "Uhhhh, hi." Bruce spoke with a timid voice, his eyes quickly glanced at her outfit. Thankfully she was very covered. Wearing a red cotton turtle neck and black harem pants.

"How are you feeling today friendo?"

That's what she wanted? To ask how he was? This wasn't sitting right with him. He didn't even know this girl! He snapped out of his thoughts at her waving her hand in his face. "And here I thought I was spacey." Solerah continued with a grin, his silence not bothering her. Bruce swallowed the lump forming in his throat and blinked nervously. "I'm fine. Why are you here?" He stammered a little on the why and he tried to make himself look busy by shuffling the papers on his desk, hoping that would get her to leave.

"Well that's good! I just wanted to check up on you after that whoooole you know..." She flexed her arms and made a weak growling noise. Bruce's eyebrows shot up in confusion, he couldn't work out what her angle was. "Well I appreciate your concern. I've been given this new lab and l have a lot of work to do so..." He awkwardly motioned to the door with his hand, hoping she would this time get the hint to leave without seeming too rude.

"What kinda work?" She swung her legs against the chair as if she didn't have a care in the world and Bruce frowned at that. "I have a lot to redo after what happened yesterday."

"Ooooh yeah that makes sense! You know you seem to have some anger issues."

"No, really?"

"Hehe your funny I like that."

Bruce didn't like her casual behaviour, he kept his guard up as he tried to analyse her and what she might be hiding. She was just smiling like it was nothing. He didn't like this..

"So what are you? A mutant, an accident? A test tube experiment?" Bruce winced internally, he didn't mean for that to come out so rude but his social skills were rusty at best.

Solerah let out a cackle of a laugh and startled him slightly at the sudden noise. "No silly! I'm an alien! I mean you're an alien to me honestly."

"An alien?" Right, of course. She was an alien. Bruce almost kicked himself for not suggesting it. Of course she's an alien, why would Bruce ever expect to have a little bit of normalcy in his life. Still the concept of an actual alien was almost too unbelievable, then again he did turn into an enormous green rage monster so who was he to judge.

"Yep! I'm from Nivael."

"Right... So why are you on Earth then?"

"Heeee. Funny story! I got stuck here but I mean it's a really nice planet! So I guess I stayed. I haven't really tried to leave."

Bruce was torn. He did want her to leave him be but on the other hand the fact that he was sitting with a completely foreign species fascinated him. He was almost hit with a child like wonder at the thought of aliens existing.

"I guess it's not the strangest thing I've seen."

"Oh there are even stranger things than me here! Earth has all kinds of neat stuff! Especially the food! Have you tried the cakes in the foodcourt?"

"I, uh, no I haven't."

"Oh! I'll go get you one! It's lunch time anyway!" She stood after glancing at the clock.

"No, I-"

"Trust me you'll love it!" She grinned brightly and ran out of the room excited at the prospect of food.

Bruce sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he didn't want to deal with anyone but his stomach reminded him with a pang of hunger that he hadn't eaten much today. He guessed he'd just have lunch today with her and hopefully that would be the end of any more unneeded social interaction. At the very least he could talk about her heritage or more information about C.O.D.E.X.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm putting a trigger warning up just in case! I don't want to risk upsetting anyone by not putting it. There's going to be some slight cutting in this chapter. Also needle warning if anyone is scared of shots. Okay sorry! Thank you! Please enjoy ^^

As it turned out it wasn't just one day. She had come back again and again and again until Bruce grew use to her company. The moment she found out he wasn't eating regularly she had seemed to take it upon herself to rectify that, sometimes even dropping by late at night and telling him to have dinner or go to bed. Bruce didn't understand why she held such concern towards him and yet here they were.

"Are you still bothering me?"

Solerah grinned at his snarky tone as she walked into the lab, placing a silver tray of food onto the table and swinging her chair forward as she sat down.

"Who else am I going to irritate!"

It was a comfortable routine they had fallen into. Solerah liked taking care of people and Bruce as much as he refused to admit it could forget to take care of himself sometimes. He halted his work and shifted in his chair, taking hold of the bowl of rice and tofu while Solerah stuffed her face with nachos allowing a flow of conversation to take place.

Bruce's lip twitched up into a half smile as she spoke. She was so much smarter then she originally let on and it was refreshing. Sometimes she spoke about silly things like how dogs were so cute and that alone nearly brought her to tears but other times she could go on for hours about something as advanced as non linear time theory. Bruce also found he enjoyed hearing the silly things which he didn't expect. He liked anything she talked about and slowly he was contributing more and more to conversations as they spent more time together.

If he was going to be honest with himself, Bruce missed having the company of a woman. He had lacked the delicate feminine touch that came with one during his time on the run. He really didn't want to sound like some deprived creep but it was just nice. Solerah wasn't by any means a conventional woman. She was too loud, too excitable, too dramatic and right now she had cheese all over her face that she was wiping away with the back of her hand. She was in her own little world as she was narrating her latest mission to him. The chime of her voice was sweet and he loved watching every emotion play out on her face. She was the exact opposite to him, a complete open book and she often left Bruce contemplating the science behind the phrase opposites attract.

"-ce! Bruce are you listening?"

"Uh, what?" He blinked and shuffled awkwardly in his seat as he focused on her again, he didn't realise he had drifted so far into his thoughts.

"I said how's your latest cure attempt going?"

He frowned as he unconsciously grabbed at his arm, feeling the small circular bandaid from where he drew blood earlier underneath his sleeve.

"Not as well as I'd like."

"I mean every mistake brings you closer to success right?"

"Sometimes I wish I had your optimism Sol."

"You'll figure it out I'm sure."

"That day can't come fast enough."

"Why do you want to get rid of the Hulk?" Solerah honestly didn't know why Bruce was trying so hard to get rid of the Hulk but she also saw how important it was to him so she was supportive. She was certain there was a lot she didn't understand but she noticed that sometimes Bruce got so reckless during his attempts and experiments and that gave her all the more reason not to want to leave him alone for too long. "He just seems kind of sweet is all. You know if you're not attacking him."

And just like that Bruce was reminded that that's why this was dangerous. That's why Bruce should stop, turn her away and let her live her life. "The other guy isn't kind of sweet Solerah. Look..." Bruce put his bowl of half eaten rice down as he tried to gather his thoughts. "There's a point you reach that's so dark. It's fear, fatigue, agitation and thunderous rage all rolled into one. You can't possibly hope to stand against it because it immerses you so completely that you're unaware of it. You loose all sense of who you are. That's who the Hulk is. That's why I need to get rid of him."

Solerah nodded slowly, processing what he had said. "But can't you two just talk? Maybe it won't be so bad if you work something out?" Her eyes shined with concern as she racked her brain for a way to magically make things better. Bruce was so sad and so hurt and she couldn't stand it.

"It's a little more complex then that Sol."

"I'm sorry I don't understand. I just wish I could help you."

"Well why don't you help me now." He turned away from her and walked to another table, motioning to a few small viles, one being connected to a needle. "You can hold these while I-"

Solerah stood, quickly closing the distance between them and grabbed his arm, gently stopping him from rolling his sleeve up.

"Bruce please."

He looked at her and squinted, almost narrowing his eyes at her.

"Soler-"

"Not again. Please til tomorrow." She had seen him draw blood earlier in the morning and she knew humans couldn't loose too much blood. The effects of doing so honestly frightened her. Her fingers traced lightly over the various cuts; scars and discoloured skin from where Bruce had mutilated his own arm for the sake of finding a cure, for the sake of science.

Bruce defensively pulled away from her and continued to roll his sleeve up. "It's too important to stop now Sol. I'll be fine." He turned his back to her and started prepping himself. This made Solerah step backwards with a sigh. She glanced over at some of the surgical tools that lay there and shuddered. Ghosting her fingers over them she picked up a scalpel. Glancing back at Bruce and seeing his back still to her she looked back down and picked up the sharp tool. She grasped it and felt the cool metal between her fingers as pressed the blade into her arm and curiously dragged it across her skin, biting her lip to hold in a gasp of pain.

Bruce raised his head and narrowed his eyes. It was too quiet. He turned around to check on Solerah and his eyes widened. Dropping the needle he bolted towards her breaking the short distance between her and smacking the scalpel out of her hand. She looked up at him shocked.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"This... Human form. It bleeds so easily."

His anger dulled in favour of confusion, he looked at her, REALLY looked at her and noticed the slight glazed look in her eyes. Like she wasn't entirely there.

"Something like this could never cut my true form."

"That doesn't make it okay to hurt this form Sol!"

"I... Wanted to see how bad it hurt you."

Bruce almost felt his heart stop. What was she?! A child!? "You can't just do that to yourself!"

"You do it..."

"I- That's different Sol!"

He raised his hands and closed his eyes, allowing himself to breath. "Okay." He took her hand and lead her away from the table of tools and sat her down before pulling out the medical kit. Solerah was now pressing down on the skin surrounding the cut, watching with interest as the blood oozed out. This time Bruce approached with care, shooing her hand away as he tended to her wound.

"Don't do that again Solerah. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"You do it to yourself almost every day. Don't tell me it's different."

Bruce didn't want to argue with her at this point, he felt a pang of guilt hit his stomach. Was this the worry she felt when she watched him take samples?

"I won't stop but I'll endeavour to let up on the physical experiments okay?" Atleast while she was around.

Solerah smiled up him as he bandaged her arm and nodded.

"Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

Solerah walked down the familiar corridor, stack of papers and folders in hand and on her way to file them. She hummed to herself happily as she went on her way.

Bruce turned the corner and smiled when he saw her skipping down the hall. He closed the case of his tablet and raised his arm about to call her name.

"Solerah!" An agent with wispy blond hair jogged past Bruce and up to Solerah. Bruce's brow creased as he watched their interaction.

"Oh! Hello Steven."

Solerah smiled as she nodded at him, slowing her pace to talk to him.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, yeah, good, great even, especially now that I'm talking to you. It's been awhile since I've seen you."

Bruce narrowed his eyes as he walked at a safe distance behind them close enough to hear them but far enough to not be noticed. He already didn't like this agent.

"I've been busy. So much filing and field work you know?" She put on a polite smile as she readjusted the folders in her arms to make a point.

Solerah may not have noticed Steven inching himself over to walk closer to her but Bruce certainly did. Calm down Bruce. Nothing to get angry over. He inhaled deeply to calm himself. He knew he was overreacting but he also knew Solerah could be oblivious to advances if she wasn't the one who instigated them.

"I haven't seen you at lunch in months, sometimes dinners too."

"I spend lunch with Bruce now, he's really neat!"

Bruce felt pride swell inside him at the mention of his name. Who even was this Steven? Bruce looked him up and down, silently judging him. He didn't even look like he was worth her time!

"I see... I've just missed you is all."

"Well gosh Steven I'm sorry. How about we eat breakfast together tomorrow? We can catch up."

Bruce knew he should just walk away at this point. He could feel that familiar intensity start to prick at his skin when the other guy wanted out.

"I was actually thinking maybe tomorrow we could have dinner together... In town instead of the foodcourt."

Bruce gritted his teeth, he should walk away now. Just stop and walk away. Just turn around and walk in the other direction.

"O-oh. I, well..."

Bruce could tell Solerah didn't want too go and admittingly that calmed him just the slightest. However that feeling quickly left when he knew she would be too polite and struggle to say no.

"Come on, it'll be fun Sol."

The last thing Bruce heard was Steven saying Sol. That was HIS name for her. He knew for a fact no one else called her that at her happy response when he had off handedly given her that nickname. Was it irrational to get jealous over a simple name? Yes. Did Bruce care at this point? No. His world went dark as he saw Solerah tense uncomfortably when Steven placed his hand on her back and smiled at her in a way Bruce didn't like.

The hulk quickly replaced Bruce, standing tall and letting out a roar startling both Steven and Solerah. Her files scattered everywhere as she dropped them.

"Hulk?!"

The Hulk was confused for a moment. He knew that was Solerah. He could smell her scent. He wondered briefly why she looked so different now. Why she was small and now coloured as an ordinary human? His thoughts quickly vanished as he saw Steven attempt to push her behind him and take a protective stance in front of her. Hulk growled and charged forward. How dare this lesser male try to stake claim on what was his!

"Steven no!" Solerah cried as she placed her hands over his when he had reached for his gun to stop him from freeing it from its holster. Hulk could see him visibly shaking in fear before he knocked him against the wall with one hand, while simultaneously wrapping his other hand around Solerah's form, picking her up and causing her to squeal at the sudden action. Despite everything that was happening Solerah noticed the Hulk wasn't trying to hurt her. His grip was oddly gentle as he retracted his hand and held her closer to his chest.

"Don't touch her you freak!" Steven quickly stood aiming his gun at Hulk. He snorted at the feeble attempt and pulled back his fist to end this annoying human, being called a freak only fuelled his rage. Steven fired his gun with shakey hands, the bullets did nothing as Hulk swung his fist forward.

"Hulk no!"

His fist stopped inches from Steven's flinching face. Hulk looked at her and snorted at her, angry that she stopped him. "Now don't you give me that look!" She frowned right back at him. There was that scolding tone again and that still confused Hulk. SHE still confused Hulk. Why was she smaller now? Why wasn't she scared of him? Why did he so fiercely want to protect her? He had never been spoken too the way she did as if he was normal before. Even when Betty spoke to him, he knew it was like she was trying to calm a wild animal. Solerah treated him as if he was a regular person and he didn't understand why. He redirected his glare at Steven instead as he shuffled back slightly away from Hulk's fist.

"Steven. Please leave."

"What?! Solerah are you crazy?!"

Hulk frowned at him being rude to her and nudged him. Not enough to send him flying like he had wanted but enough to make the agent fall backwards.

"Shhhh, it's okay."

She rubbed soothing circles onto his arm and smiled at him.

"Steven. I can handle this. You're only aggravating him."

Steven deadpanned at her calm attitude. She was being held by that thing and she was completely calm! He scrambled to his feet and slowly approached them.

"Solerah I don't think you understand the danger you are in. Just let me help you."

As Steven reached his hand out towards her, Hulk growled. He was trying to take her from him again! He stomped his foot causing the ground to tremble, Steven to fall again and Solerah to yelp, holding tightly onto his fist as he jerked her away from Steven again.

"NO TOUCH HULK'S STAR!"

Steven was torn between wanting to look like a hero in front of Solerah and being genuinely terrified of the force of nature in front of him. He didn't have time to make a decision as more agents rounded the corner and approached them.

"What's happening now?!"

Solerah heard Alfred's voice dripping with annoyance. Steven spluttered and quickly stood, saluting Alfred and started to explain.

"That thing-"

"Excuse me, he has a name." Solerah had quickly interrupted crossing her arms over her chest. Much like Bruce had earlier, Hulk felt a swell of pride at the recognition she was giving him.

"That 'Hulk' has Agent Wild Star compromised Sir!" Solerah could tell by his tone that Steven was not pleased at having to address Hulk by his name.

"Well Star?" Alfred raised a brow and looked at her, demanding an explanation.

"I've got it under control Alfie. If you could please remove Steven I'll be able to handle the situation."

"Hey! But-"

"Agent, I trust Wild Star's judgement. Stand down and return to your regular duties." Alfred gave a signal with his hand and the other agents around him started to disperse.

"You're making a huge mistake Solerah." Steven glared at Hulk one more time as he walked away, Afred followed suite as he nodded at Solerah, trusting her to defuse the situation.

She let out a breath of relief after everyone was out of sight. "Well this was an interesting way to end the day." She looked up at Hulk, twisting her body as much as she could in his grasp to face him.

"Now what got you so mad in the first place? Everything okay?"

Hulk huffed and turned away from her gaze.

"Come on now Honeypie don't ignore me."

His head snapped back in her direction. "Hulk not cute!" Hulk was strong! That name didn't suit him at all!

She smiled as she reached forward and placed her hand on his cheek. "Aww come on. You were protecting me from Steven right? That was very sweet of you Honeypie." A little drastic Solerah will admit to herself but sweet!

"Don't like puny Steven." Hulk chose to ignore the name she gave him.

"Well I'm grateful that you didn't hurt him too badly."

He wanted too. Hulk could of easily squished him like an insect, he should of! That would of shown Steven that Hulk was the dominant male! Except he didn't want to upset Solerah.

"I don't know why you wanted to protect me, Steven is my friend." Solerah continued when she saw that he wasn't responding.

"Puny Steven bad for Star." Hulk's grip tightened just the slightest around her.

"I don't understand Hulk. Steven has never done anything wrong to me."

How was he suppose to put it into words! Hulk knew Steven was bad. He didn't like anything about him. His scent even reeked! He knew Banner would be able to put it into words but Hulk knew he needed to do it, Banner would be too weak to do it!

"Star not see. Star needs Hulk. Hulk protect Star!"

"What don't I see?"

"Puny Steven bad for Star!"

"But why is he bad for me?"

"Star not understand!"

Hulk was getting more and more frustrated at the circle of repetition they fell into. He gritted his teeth and growled. Solerah quickly reached up and tried to sooth him by stroking his hair as she felt his grip on her slightly tighten in his frustration.

"Shhh, it's okay. I know you're frustrated. Just try to stop and think about what you want to say. Take your time Honeypie, it's okay."

Hulk did as he was told, scrunching up his nose as he tried one of Banner's breathing techniques that he vaguely recalled. Admittingly the effects of her stroking his hair was doing wonders.

"Puny Steven not good for Hulk's Star. He's not... Banner." It took an effort for Hulk not to add puny in front of Banner's name but he wanted to get the point across. In Hulk's mind she already belonged to him and by default that meant she belonged to Banner too. Hulk knew that Steven wanted Solerah the same way that Banner did, he could smell it a mile away.

Solerah stopped her motions. She tried hard to think about and understand what Hulk meant. She rested her head in her palm and her elbow on Hulk's fist, hummed in thought as she swung her dangling legs.  
Wait...  
Was Bruce jealous?  
WAIT!  
Did Steven like her!?  
She cringed as she thought back to all the times she spent with Steven and all the ways he acted. It was all suddenly making sense, how he was always a little too close or always a little too eager to be alone with her.

"Are you saying Steven likes me?!?! How do you even KNOW that?!" 

"Puny Banner see it, Hulk smell it."

"Bruce was watching?" Well that explains how the Hulk was able to suddenly sneak up on them. She didn't even want to know what he meant by he could smell it so she just chalked it up too he had better senses. "I see..."

"Don't worry Hulk. I don't like Steven like that and I never will. I'm perfectly happy with you and Bruce."

Hulk nodded in reassurance, puffing his chest out slightly. He was proud he made Solerah understand.

"Now. How about we calm down a little huh? We don't have to bring Bruce back yet if you want to stay out a little longer but we gotta settle okay?"

Yet again Hulk was confused by her behaviour. She wasn't in any rush to bring Banner back out? Taking her words literally he moved to sit down, carefully placing Solerah in his lap as he leaned against the wall. Solerah settled down against him leaning on his chest as his arm draped around her.

"You're warm..." She smiled as she closed her eyes. She assumed she wasn't going to be going anywhere until Bruce came back so she may as well be comfortable.

Hulk didn't know what to think. She actually liked him for him. She appreciated him for his own self and she wanted him when no one else did. He knew there was a reason he liked her. Even the fact that she gave him a stupid nickname, like she did with Banner and Alfred. They were the people she cared about the most and he wanted to gloat about not hearing Steven have a nickname but right now Hulk really didn't know what to do.

"Bruce is wrong. You really are sweet."

Hulk tried to process what she had just said. Nobody had ever wanted him around before. He looked down at her tiny relaxed frame and he swore he felt happy.

\-------------------------------

Bruce woke up in the dark hallway a few hours later feeling disoriented. He tried to sit up but quickly realised there was a weight on him. He looked down squinting in the dark when he saw Solerah was half laying on him, sleeping peacefully. The gears in his mind turned as he tried to work out what had happened. Did C.O.D.E.X's security have to use some kind of knock out gas on him and Solerah got caught in the bast? He sat in the dark empty hallway and realised there would be no point worrying about it now.

He looked down at Solerah again and tried to softly shake her awake. She groaned and only cuddled up against him, mumbling something incoherent as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Bruce felt his heart tug and he didn't have the heart to wake her. He shifted his body weight and carefully hoisted her up as he stood and began walking. He couldn't return her to her room, he had no idea where her keycard was and he didn't feel right about digging through her pockets while she was asleep. 

Bruce ended up taking her to his room, removing her shoes and tucking her into his bed. He pulled an old T-shirt over his head and discarded his torn pants in favour of pyjama pants and curled up on the small couch he had, draping the throw rug around himself that was hanging off the edge. He looked at her one more time, taking in her peaceful features and let out a frustrated sigh. "What are you doing Banner...?" He whispered to himself and turned around to face away from her. It took him awhile before he was able to drift into an uneasy sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh~!"

Bruce awoke jolting forward in confusion as he heard a sharp high pitched sound. His eyes wildly searched the room before they landed on Solerah. Perched on his bed with her legs crossed and one arm raised above her head as she sang the operatic note dramatically. She stopped when she noticed he was awake and grinned.

"Good morning sunshine! How is my bright shining star?"

Bruce raised his brow as he looked at her blankly, holding his makeshift blanket up protectively against him when it pooled around his hips.

"See it's funny because you're not a bright shining star. You're actually quite dreary."

That comment made Bruce give into a small smile and a hum of a laugh.

"Aha! You laughed!" She pointed at him and giggled excitedly.

"Only barely." He allowed himself to relax and smile a crooked grin back at her.

"It still counts!" She shrieked with joy, bouncing slightly on the bed. Bruce rolled his eyes and stood, stretching out and hearing the small popping noises of his back cracking. "I've never been woken up with opera before."

"I thought it would be a fun way to confuse you. It's only fair since I was pretty confused when I woke up!"

His grin disappeared as he hunched his shoulders in guilt and started speaking in a fast and broken manner. "I-Sorry. I didn't want to-to just leave you on the floor and I-I didn't know where you're keycard was and you-"

"Bruce stop!!!" She raised her arms at him. "Chill! It's okay!" She hopped off the bed and looked for her shoes. "You wanna have breakfast together?" She slipped her shoes on without looking at him as she spoke.

"Uh..." Bruce frowned. Lunch was one thing but having breakfast together? That seemed so much more intimate. The thought crossed his mind that yes maybe he was over thinking this but at the same time...

"Bruuuuuce~!"

His thoughts were broken as Solerah swung open his door, holding onto the knob to support her weight as she leaned sideways raising a foot off the ground. Her mussed hair fell over her face as she continued bending downwards making everything look almost upside down to her.

"I'm gonna take your silence as a yes. I'll wait for you outside okay?"

And just like that she swung herself up and closed the door, leaving Bruce in a stupor of his own thoughts, her enthusiasm for anything constantly surprised him. "Guess I don't have a choice." He reasoned to himself that that was the reason he was going and definitely not the bubble of excitement in his stomach.

\----------------------------------

Bruce glanced around slightly nervously as he sat at the foodcourt opposite to Solerah. He used this time as a personal experiment of sorts. There weren't a lot of people around this early so he was gauging how well he could handle being in a large area with people. He was pleased at how well he seemed to be coping. As they ate and chatted he got more and more confident and it showed in his posture and speech. As Bruce watched Solerah enjoying her egg and bacon roll he decided this was a very pleasant way to start the day.

As he watched her, he noticed her demeanour suddenly change. Her shoulders hunched and she looked down, looking like all the positivity she had was drained. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, um, nothing!"

"That wasn't convincing at all Sol."

Bruce deadpanned as she tried to wave it off with a mutter of "I'm fine." He followed her gaze as flitted from the table to the open canteen. Bruce recognised the ginger haired man from the surveillance tape. "That's the one who threw the grenade." 

"Yeah that's Roy. He was only trying to help in his own way."

"He threw that grenade knowing you were in the room."

"Ohhh I'm sure he knew I would survive it!"

Roy sauntered over towards them, muffin in hand. He ignored Bruce as he dropped a bundle of folders and files in front of Solerah and began walking off. Solerah piled up the slightly scattered folders and stood. "Well I better get to work!" She smiled at Bruce as best as she could but she knew it wasn't very sincere.

It didn't take much for Bruce to figure out what was happening. "Those files you organise every day. That's not even you're workload is it?" Bruce's voice strained just the slightest as his jaw clenched.

"Well yeah it is! I mean no it's not... l mean I guess not?" Solerah shifted her weight uncomfortably. "It's fine Bruce. Roy asked me to do some of his work one day and I just..."

"You never said no... You're letting him use you." At this point Bruce stood as well, making his way across the table.

"I wouldn't say that! It's just-it's just!" She paused and bit her lip as she tried to think of what to say. "Look. He already thinks I'm a monster okay? I'm just trying to prove him wrong."

"By letting him walk all over you?"

"I'd call it more by being nice..."

"Have you told Alfred?"

"I don't want to cause a fuss..."

Bruce gritted his teeth, taking the folders from her hands and stormed out of the foodcourt leaving Solerah standing there confused. She blinked as she tried to comprehend what just happened. She felt a guilty pit well up in her stomach as she stood trying to decide if she should follow after Bruce. He seemed mad and she didn't want to make him any angrier but she also wanted to be there in case the Hulk made an appearance. She bit her lip as she held her arms wondering what the right decision would be.

\-----------------------------------

Bruce Banner isn't normally a confrontational man, though there are some exceptions.

"Hey Roy!"

Roy stopped at the sound of his name, his sharp green eyes narrowed when he saw Bruce catching up to him. He took a cautious step backwards but maintained an air of confidence.

"I don't believe we've formally met."

"No we haven't exactly, other then when you threw that grenade at me."

"Well I always say let bygones be bygones. Besides obviously there was no harm done." His tone was snide and veiled in an uncaring attitude.

"Look, I want you to stop bothering Solerah. Do you're own work, I'm sure you're more then capable of it if you're an agent here."

"Oh I see how it is. Did she send you over to 'scare' me?"

"You've known her longer then I have, you should know she isn't that type of person."

"So she asked you to tell me to stop?"

"I'm just looking out for her."

"Oh I get it. Monsters have to stick together. Who else would care." It was a statement, not a question. Bruce gritted his teeth but before he could say anything else Solerah ran up to them both.

"Ah here's my favourite little monster now."

Roy approached her placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair roughly making her cringe slightly.

"You can tell your friend here that you don't mind doing a little extra work. I've got more important things to do after all."

"Bruce, it's really okay. I don't mind-"

"It's not okay Solerah!"

She jumped slightly and tensed as Roy narrowed his eyes and moved to stand in front of Bruce. "Listen what we do is between us and none of you're business. You can't decide for her."

"Yes I can and you know why? Because she's too busy taking care of everyone else before she'll even think of herself. Because she can't say no to people and because someone has to put her first and since she won't do it, I will."

Bruce's eyes were turning green as were his veins making Roy step backwards, hand on his gun and ready to run if he turned. Solerah pushed past him and placed her hands on his shoulder and arm.

"Bruce calm down..."

Bruce looked at Solerah and then back to Roy. The ginger agent looked terrified, loosing his confident facade but Solerah just looked concerned for him.

"I'm not going to let you take advantage of her anymore. If you ever push her around again, I'll make you regret it." He glared at Roy one last time, throwing the stack of folders at his feet causing a flurry of papers to scatter across the ground. He grabbed Solerah's wrist and lead her away before she could say anything.

As they passed down the hall and away from Roy Solerah finally worked up the courage to speak up.

"Bruce?"

He didn't respond, he just continued to drag her down the hallway, taking long strides making her struggle slightly to keep up with him.

"Bruce you're hurting me."

Hearing that he stopped and let go of her wrist, so violently it was almost like he was scalded. She watched as his eyes slowly flickered back into brown as his body quaked and tinged back and fourth between green and flesh tone. When he had finally gotten a hold of himself he looked away, ashamed of his actions.

"I-" 

Bruce paused mid sentence as Solerah leaned forward and circled her arms around his waist, pressing her face against his chest. "Did-did you really mean all that?"

Bruce stiffened, his arms held up away from her unsure of how to respond. "Of course I did."

"No ones ever said anything so nice about me. I'm honestly not worth the trouble."

"Sol, you're worth everything."

At this point Bruce returned the hug. He rested his chin on the top of her head and pressed her slightly against himself. It was a tender moment that neither of them were really accustomed too so they just stood in silence and basked in the closeness and comfort of eachother.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I got a little overboard length wise on this one but I just got so excited! Finally after this chapter some romance can bloom! Do you guys think I'm going too slow with their relationship? This is pre Avengers, post Incredible Hulk so I didn't imagine he'd jump straight into wanting a relationship like I've seen some stories do for him.
> 
> Please do review! It gives me inspiration and I'm always happy to hear feedback or what you guys like about it.
> 
> Trigger warning: Period typical homophobia

Those with knowledge are those with power. To have knowledge is to have liberation. We must never forget the power of words and of facts.

Those were the words C.O.D.E.X was founded by. When Solerah first heard those words they honestly went way over her head. She was much more brutal in her youth, opting to solve a problem with her fists rather then words. She sought out the thrill of adventure then sitting in a dusty old place surrounded by books. She grinned to herself, wondering what her younger self would think of her now. Working for an organisation that is devoted to knowledge.

"What are you smiling at?" Alfred's voice pulled her out of her head.

"Oh! Nothing important. Just the past." She looked at him instead of the window of the train they were on. "Alfie do you ever wish you could change who you use to be?"

"There's no point thinking like that Star. You can't change the past." His brow was arched at her, studying her face.

"You can't change the past." She puffed her cheeks up and imitated him, deepening her voice before she sighed and leaned her head against the clear glass watching the scenery change.

She was... Bored... They had been on the train for a good two hours. Her head was itchy from the blonde wig laced to her skull and she hated that she couldn't touch her face so carelessly with the amount of make up on her. She knew it was just part of some missions but she never liked it. Her thoughts drifted to Bruce, this was a long mission she'd be on and she wondered if he kept his promise of making sure to eat and take care of himself while she was away. She never forgot the day she literally had to drag him to the shower before he finally relented and shooed her out of the bathroom with a mild blush dusted on his cheeks.

"You're thinking about Banner aren't you?"  
"How'd you know?"

"Because you have that dumb look on your face, you always get when you think of him."

She looked to him offended, raising her hand to her chest dramatically. "I do make make a dumb face when I think about him!"

Alfred raised his hands as a lazy defence. "Whoa there tiger, no need to bite. I'm happy you and Banner have that little thing you guys have going on."

"What thing?"

"Your thing."

"WHAT thing?"

"You seriously don't know what I'm talking about?"  
She just raised her eye brows and thinned her lips, looking at him expectantly.

"Oh my god you're serious."

"Alfie!"

"You both are so over the moon about eachother." Alfred swept back a lock of his blackened hair, his tone almost bored at how obvious the fact was to him.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Solerah said indignantly, laughter trickling in between her exaggerated answer. "No no nooooo Alfie that's crazy."

"Hey I don't care. If anything I'm happy for you. Because of you two fawning over each other you've effectively stopped every Hulk out. I was worried about the hulk when bringing Doctor Banner in but his knowledge in gamma radiation was too good to pass up."

"Alfie! I do not have feelings for Bruce!"

"You sure about that buttercup?"

"Yeah l am!" Her cheeks turned a scarlet red as her voice raised a few octaves.

"Come on Star no body cares if you like that scruffy scientist."

"Whoa now friend scruffy is cute!"

"In all my years of knowing you, you have never once found scruffy attractive."

She paused and took a moment to evaluate everything. He was right.... Her face contorted in horror as everything just dawned upon her.

"I mean come on Star, you can be a little oblivious to this stuff, you didn't even notice Steven liked you."

"You knew about that?!"

"Anyone with eyes knew about that."

Solerah frowned and hugged her arms tightly around her chest. "I don't want to be in love."

"You've had plenty of partners."

"Yeah but I was never really IN love with them. I've only ever been in love once and it hurt. I don't want to be in love again."

"Well I mean that's your choice. You don't have to act on anything."

"Okay what if we DO get together and it doesn't work out, what if he dies! I don't..."

Solerah paused, biting her lip as she regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. " I don't want to end up like you..."

Alfred sucked up a sharp breath through his nose and felt his heart drop into his stomach. It was silent for a few moments. Solerah didn't know what to do so she waited. Alfred's eyes glazed over and he blinked quickly to avoid shedding any tears.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it." His voice was harsh, he felt a lump form in his throat. "I don't regret it. Some days it's the only thing that keeps me going."

Solerah simply rested her head against his shoulder, unable to find the right words to respond.

"When did you know you were in love?"

"Well..."

\------------------------------------

"Whoooo!"

"Veeeeeeee!"

The door burst open to a the tiny room designated to the lowest ranking agents as the two cheering agents came bounding in.

"57 missions officially complete!"

Solerah raised her hand as Alfred had taught her and he clapped his over hers in a high five. She very much liked the high five.

Their uniforms were torn and muddied and their muscles ached but all the two agents could feel right now were joy. Alfred kicked off the ground and bounced onto his bed, with Solerah following suite and bounced onto hers. Alfred thought it was weird at first, having sometime imitate near everything he did but he got use to it, almost like having a kid sister or something.

"Okay!" He reached into his bedside tables draw for a piece of chalk and with his fist rubbed at the 56 and replacing it with the 57 on the chalkboard he tacked up on his side of the room. "We've done infiltration, reconnaissance, gathering info, sabotage. Oh! Do you think we'll be able to do a counterterrorism mission soon!?" His eyes practically sparkled behind his glasses.

Solerah smiled at his enthusiasm and laughed. "I do not know friend Alfred! That may be a little advanced." Solerah wasn't about to ruin his fun by announcing these missions were mere child's play to her. She was just happy she could help keep her friend safe.

"One day Star you'll see! I got real big ideas. Top of the organisation I tell ya! And you'll be right by my side as my confidant! We're gonna be big. We're gonna do great things!"

"Why are you so obsessed with all this? Should you not just be excited for our current achievement?"

Because Star!" Alfred kicked off his boots as he raised his finger. "With knowledge comes acceptance. I want to live in a world where you can just be you. 'To have knowledge is to have liberation.' doesn't that sound neat!" He quoted.

"It does indeed sound neat."

Suddenly Alfred sprung up after looking at his pocket watch, startling Solerah. "Oh! I better start getting ready! I don't want to late for my date!" He scrambled around his side of the room, grabbing his bathroom bag and a set of clean clothes. "Ah your courtship ritual! I do hope things go well with your woman!" She smiled and gave him a double thumbs up. She loved all these cute useless gestures. Alfred paused for a moment as he gripped the door handle. Solerah pretended she didn't see the pain flash through his eyes for that split second.

"Yeah... Yeah me too." He gripped the handle tighter. "We're friends right?"

"I should certainly hope so!"

He laughed albeit weakly. "I really think this could be the one Star, but there's so many things I'm afraid of. I... No nevermind. I'll see you later."

"Wait!" She stood, moving to him and taking his hands in her own. "If she is really your Quatrill you should perform a grand gesture! Oh! How good are you at carving bone!?"

"Uhhh, you know Star, that's never really been a skill I needed." His eye twitched at the very thought of why she posed that question.

"Hmm. Well you are young. You'll learn." She gave him an encouraging pat before he opened the door and pulled out of her grasp. "I will... Get back to you on that! Yeah definitely, I'm all for... Bone carving." She waved him off as he jogged down the corridor to the shared bathrooms.

\-------------------------------------

Hours later and Alfred still hadn't returned, Solerah had sat up waiting for him, too worried to fall asleep. Suddenly light filled the room and she shielded her eyes as Alfred walked in sluggishly. "Al-Alfred?" Her eyes widened at his appearance. His clothes were torn, he had a bloodied lip, a severely bruised eye and she could even see bruising peeking through the tears of his shirt. He fell to the ground as Solerah rushed to his side and dropped beside him.

"I just held his hand.... I-I just held his hand..." Alfred sobbed as he covered his face and tried to pull away from Solerah. She however did not let him, delicately she held him, pulling him to her chest as she let him cry. She had no idea what was going on but she chose to ignore that to tend to her friend. They both didn't speak a word for the rest of the night as she took care of his injuries and held him throughout the night.

The next morning Alfred woke with a start. He pulled the covers over his head as he heard Solerah's excited screaming. After last night he just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Awaken!"

He cringed as his sheet was ripped from him. With as little enthusiasm as possible he sat up and looked at her, mustering up his best glare. Solerah smiled widely and placed a bowl on his lap. His glare turned to pure confusion as he picked up the spoon that held an ice cube and examined the food placed in front of him.

"What the fuck?"

"So! I asked around about what humans do when they have an unsuccessful date!" Alfred cringed at her words, not wanting to even think about yesterday.

"The overall consensus was iced cream! So I asked the food humans for ice and cream!" She waved her hands at the bowl. "Iced cream! I hope you enjoy it!"

"Iced... Cream..." Solerah jumped as Alfred burst into laughter, he held his sides as he laughed so hard and uncontrollably he even started snorting.

"Did I... Do something amusing?"

Tears filled his eyes as he could only respond with more laughter. It took a solid 15 minutes before he could calm down enough to speak.

\------------------------------------------

"That was the day I knew." Alfred smiled fondly as he looked down at Solerah, still comfortably resting her head on his shoulder. That was the day he knew he found two people he would love more then anyone else in his entire life.


	8. Chapter 8

Solerah leaned her head against the back of her hand, resting her arm on the edge of the open window of the car. After finally detaching the wig from her head she spent the rest of the trip home in silence. She couldn't stop thinking about Bruce. She supposed she DID have a bit of a crush on him. Maybe a big crush on him. Okay so MAYBE she really really really liked him a lot. Without giving their relationship a label she didn't need to think about this sort of thing and cursed Alfred for addressing it. All she could do was sulk and Alfred left her to her sullen mood.

"You look like a depressed slug." Alfred said as he watched her slowly slide out of the car.

"It's your fault!"

"Don't blame me for pointing out the obvious."

"I blame you Redgrave!"

"Yeah well suck it up Redgrave!" He threw right back at her as she whined. "You suck and I regret ever taking your last name!"

"Yeah yeah, I love you too." He waved her off dismissively as he approached the base, Solerah ignored him as she quickly made her way to the elevator, hitting the button repeatedly to close it.

"You're a child!" Alfred called out as the doors slid closed before he could reach the elevator, Solerah cackled evilly as she descended down without him. That made her feel SLIGHTLY better. Solerah walked slowly as she made her way to Bruce's lab. She had promised she'd go see him when she returned but right now seeing him was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to try to sort out her feelings before seeing him but she also didn't want to break her promise. With a deep breath and a wave of her hands she tried to hype herself up into appearing normal before she finally clicked the small button to open the lab door, all she had to do was act casual.

"Guess whose baaack~!" She sang out as she raised her arm and posed dramatically leaning against the wall. Yep, casual. Bruce perked up at her voice about to smile and welcome her back when he froze taking in her appearance. Bruce tried to control his breathing, dedicating every ounce of concentration he had to remember his breathing exercises as his eyes soaked up the sight of Solerah in a tight black cocktail dress in front of him.

He struggled to keep himself under control as he tried to avert his eyes, willing them away from her cleavage. That didn't really help because when he did manage to break his gaze away it just landed on her legs. Her smooth creamy legs. He had never seen so much exposed skin on her aside from the day they met which Bruce kept at the back of his mind. Bruce felt a primal urge inside him doing everything in its power to break out, he felt a deep rooted urge to claim her as his own and the scary part was he wasn't even sure if it was him or the other guy thinking this.

"How-um, how did the mission go?"

She let out a huff and walked towards him. "Boring! Do you have any idea how boring it is to pretend to be interested in rich men who only talk about themself?! 'Hehehe oh Mr Sander! You're so funny!' Bluuuh." She slumped in a chair. "Don't get me wrong espionage is fun and all but the fake flirting is tiring."

Bruce's mind wondered to a vision of her flirting with rich self absorbed men and bit the inside of his cheek. Solerah seemed to naive in Bruce's mind to do something like that. Did she know what she'd be doing to men who'd see her in that type of outfit? Did she even know what she was doing to him? Bruce felt a slight frustration start to trickle in from the back of his mind. How could Alfred just let her parade herself around like that and basically throw her to those dogs of men like she was a succulent piece of meat. He felt overcome with a need to protect her. She was so sweet and soft, she could get taken advantage of!

"Are you okay Bruce?" Solerah tilted her head in concern as she leaned her chair forward to hover over his desk... Just like she had done hundreds of times before... Except all those times she was in a T-shirt or a turtle neck. All those times before Bruce didn't have to worry about seeing... He shook his head of those thoughts as he quickly nodded. "I'm fine. Just trying to concentrate." He quickly gathered some papers to shuffle in front of him to appear busy.

Bruce felt guilty when he saw a hint of a frown on her face as she retreated from his desk. Great now she thought she was annoying him when he was trying to work. "Well I won't bother you. I'm gonna head out anyway." She stood and gave him a light smile as she waved and walked away, leaving Bruce to sigh after catching a glance at her hips sway and was left stewing in his own thoughts. Solerah walked a safe distance away and leaned against the wall. "This is stupid! I can't be this effected by a crush! I-I need to clear my mind..."

\---------------------------------------

Solerah sat in the corner of a small booth in a bar, nursing a drink. She wanted to go to a cafe or something but at the hour she arrived in the city they were all closed so a bar was the next best thing.

"Hey there beautiful."

She looked up sadly at the man who approached her, smiling and holding a drink of his own.

"Sorry, you're cute and all but I'm not in the mood so don't waste your time on me." She pointed towards a blonde woman laughing with her friends at the booth near hers. "I heard her talk about her daddy issues so your suit and tie get up would probably really do something for her."

He glanced at the woman she pointed to before deciding to sit down across from Solerah anyway. "You're in a sour mood."

"Yeah..." Looking into her drink she was slowly whirling the straw around in circles.

"What's wrong?"

"This guy...."

"It's always a guy isn't it?" The stranger tutted. "What he do, stand you up?"

"No... I have a crush on him. I thought getting out would help me figure out my thoughts but it's not really working out the way I wanted it to."

"He married?"

"No..."

"Got a girlfriend?"

"No..."

"Gay?"

"I don't think so."

"Then what is the problem? Go get him!"

"You don't understand! He's so nice and smart and gentle and well grounded! The exact opposite of me! He'd never go for someone like me."

"Come on, don't say that! I came over here to hit on you and trust me babe I have good taste." That comment made Solerah giggle at the sheer stupidity of it.

"See! There's a laugh! What kind of guy wouldn't like a cute laugh like that." She gave a genuine but shy smile at the sincerity in his voice.

"And there's a smile! Even cuter! He's gotta be blind if he doesn't think so."

"Well aren't you the charmer." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Thanks babe, I know."

His confidence made Solerah laugh harder.

"What's the guys name?"

"It's..." Bruce probably wouldn't like her giving out his name. "BB."

"Come on babe, you and me, let's hit the town!" The brunette man announced as he downed his drink.

"Look I appreciate the offer....?"

"Tony."

"Tony, but hanging out with me tonight isn't going to lead to anything, you aren't gonna get anywhere with me."

He stood and smoothed out his suit jacket, sending a dazzling smile her way. "I know, l know, waiting for BB right?" He winked at her before continuing. "I don't see why two people can't just have a night of innocent fun together. I'm only here for a night on business so consider this my good deed of the year." He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. She looked at his hand before smiling and took it, allowing him to pull her up. 

They left the bar together and Tony ended up taking her to the central of the city to explore what the nightlife had to other. They did a wide range of things such as karaoke.

"I'M ON A HIIIIIIGHWAY TO HEEEEEEELL~!"

They even found an old arcade.

"GET THE CHERRY!" "BUT THE GHOST IS RIGHT BEHIND ME!"

It was getting late and so many things were already closed so they ended up buying some ice cream cones they settled down to just taking a walk through the park and sat on the bench looking up at the stars and talking.

"Okay but what if he got himself a girlfriend? How would you feel?"

"I would of ideally had gotten over this by then."

"Babe, I can tell by your tone you've got it bad."

"I know!" She dropped her head into her hands.

"What's so wrong with liking this guy? You said he was smart right? Smart guys are the best."

"What if it doesn't work out...? I couldn't live with myself if something happened and we stopped being friends..."

"Sometimes you just gotta take risks babe."

"Why are you being so nice to me? No offence but you seem like the kind of guy that sneaks out of the hotel before she wakes up."

Tony laughed. "Oh I want that on a keychain!"

She gave him a hard stare and he threw his arms in the air defensively.

"You looked sad okay?! Despite the popular belief I'm not completely heartless."

Solerah looked up at the sky and sighed. She atleast felt better, Tony was right, sometimes you gotta take risks. She'd take his advice.

"Thank you for tonight Tony. It was the best."

"What can I say? I always leave the ladies satisfied."

\----------------------------------------

Hours passed and Bruce still couldn't concentrate. He got some work done but no where near enough for his standard. He sighed as he pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed in frustration. The image of Solerah in that dress flashed across his mind every time he closed his eyes. "Bruce?" He jumped in shock at the call of his name and snapped his eyes open to see Solerah. He felt his mouth go dry. If possible she was even more beautiful then when she left. Her hair was now tussled, probably from her constant fiddling with it, the make up she wore earlier now long gone, her black heels were dangling from her index and middle fingers and her face held a concerned expression on her tired features.

"It's awfully late Bruce. You should go to bed."

'Only if you go with me' was the first thought that ran through his mind before he mentally scolded himself. He felt a pang of guilt, she looked exhausted and her room was nowhere near his personal work space. She came to check on him before she went to sleep. When he wasn't responding to her she frowned. She figured he was either lost in thought or just plain tired. Her bare feet padded against the floor as she walked towards him and tugged on his arm, pulling him back to reality as he looked at her. "C'mon Bruce... Bed." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Yeah." He nodded. "I lost track of time." Bruce stood and followed her, letting her lead him out of the room.

"Sweet dreams BB." She pulled him into a hug after they reached the point where they needed to go their separate ways to their rooms.

"BB?" Bruce questioned as he hugged her lightly back, she lingered on the hug before breaking away.

"My new nickname for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Bruce couldn't believe he was doing this. It was so ridiculous. Yet here he stood in front of the small mirror built into the wall in his lab and practicing what he could say and how to maybe ask her on a date.

"I can't stop thinking about you."  
Too cheesy  
"I really think I'm falling for you."  
She'd probably laugh at me  
"I like your.... Face..."  
........  
"Ugh! I can't do this!"

Bruce slammed his fist against the wall and leaned his head against the cool glass of the mirror in defeat. Maybe he should just stick to his original plan of pushing her away, that would probably be easier. He was so conflicted and it was driving him insane, almost as insane as she drove him.

"Can't do what BB?"

Bruce jumped at the sound of her voice, quickly turning around and away from the mirror to stare at her. She tilted her head to the side and held back a grin at his flustered behaviour. He's so cute! She set the tray of food down and sat in her swivel chair, swinging slightly and patiently waiting for his explanation.

"I, uh..." Bruce racked his brain for an excuse, come on he was great at lying! Why couldn't he lie to her? He moved to brush away one of his curly locks that fell over his eye but instead he grabbed the curl. "Can't... Work like this. My hair is too long, it's in the way... And... I can't go get a hair cut... Because of the other guy..." Bruce let out a strained exhale and tightened his lips, that was the single worst excuse that he had ever uttered. There was absolutely no way she would fall for-

"I could cut it!"

She fell for it... No, she was just too trusting, she probably thinks he would never lie to her. He looked at her bright smile and her hands curled into excited little fists and couldn't say no to that face. "Great..." He drawled out the word. "Problem solved." He tried to sound excited but he mostly sounded strained. "I'll go find some good scissors!" And there she went, running out of the lab. He let out a groan of frustration turning to the mirror again but this time to look at his own hair. He supposed it was getting a mess. Admittingly he hadn't cut it in a long time. He wasn't on the run at C.O.D.E.X so it's not like he really needed to maintain it. His hair was always kind of unruly, shaggy even. He never knew what to do with the mop of curls genetics had given him. He walked towards the silver tray of food on the desk that she left and picked up his cup of tea, slipping it slowly to remain calm. What's the worst that could happen right?

\--------------------------

Bruce couldn't hide his nervousness as he felt her sift her hands through his hair. He kept tapping his fingers against his knee as he heard the snips of cutting hair. Solerah noticed how fidgety he was and put the scissors down. She walked around his chair and faced him.  
"Bruce... What's wrong? What's really wrong? No one is THIS nervous about a haircut." She folded her arms and frowned at him, raising an eyebrow and preparing to scold him if he didn't give her the truth. "The last person that cut my hair was Betty." His voice came out pained and Solerah's arms dropped in concern.

"Whose Betty?"

Bruce spent the next hour or so telling her about Betty. Everything from when they first met, their time together while he was designing the gamma bomb and him seeing her again when he fought the Abomination in Harlem. Solerah listened intently, pushing her pang of jealousy aside in favour of giving him understanding. She could tell the way he spoke about her she was very important to him. She ended up learning about so much of his past just through this Betty, she had known a little about him from his file but hearing it in person was just so different. She wanted to cry at all that torment he was put through however she put on a brave face for him and focused her attention on being there to reassure him.

"You really loved her huh?" She finally spoke after he looked like he couldn't take anymore.

"Yeah..."

"Do you still love her?"

"I probably always will on some degree. But she has her own life now and it's been years. I did try dating again but Kate turned out to be a SHIELD Agent sent to monitor me." Bruce let out a weak laugh as Solerah gave him a sympathetic look. "I've moved on." Bruce stated feeling the need to confirm that fact.

"I know how you feel." Solerah smiled sadly at him and grabbed his hands. "You never really get over a love like that. I've moved on but honestly? I'll probably never get over her." Bruce tensed, he wanted to give her some form of comfort but all he could think was her? He must of verbalised that thought as she gave him a weak laugh.

"My species doesn't exactly hold your concept of gender. We love who we love. The mind and connection is more important then the physical body." Bruce nodded slowly, his grip relaxed.

"I guess, uh, it's the now that's important. Sorry for going on about this."

Solerah quickly shook her head no. "No no! Thank you for trusting me with this! I feel like I know you a whole lot better!" She smiled at him, she had gained so much respect for him.

"I still feel like I barely know anything about you."

"You don't wanna know about me."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't like me anymore..."

Slowly let go of his hands and stood walking away slightly and turning to face away from him. Bruce was confused. The thought of not liking her? Never. But he decided to respect her privacy. It was so hard for him to just tell her about Betty and his accident and besides he had things he still didn't tell her. So he stood up and brushed the stray hairs off his shirt and changed the subject.

"So how did you do? Does it look okay?"

Solerah turned back around with a smile, grateful he didn't pry and pushed away the bad feelings. "I don't know. I've never done this before." Bruce's eyes widened as his hand shot into his hair.

"What?! You're joking?!"

Solerah slowly shook her head.

"You're not joking?!"

She slowly nodded her head.

He quickly stepped back towards the small mirror that started this whole mess and looked at himself, turning his head around to try and see all the angles he could. Solerah walked up behind him, her own reflection peering into the mirror curiously.

"If you've never cut hair why did you offer?"

"I wanted to help you!" Her voice was shrill and worried, he looked at her reflection and sighed, turning around in defeat.

"I suppose it's not that bad."

This what he got for lying to her.

\-------------------------------------

Time went on and now it was after lunch and Solerah sat at her chair sulking, tapping a pen and staring at Bruce trying to figure out her predicament before it ate away at her entirely. He was just writing in one of his notebooks, like she'd seen him do a hundred times before, yet for whatever reason now that she had been thinking about this whole mess it was suddenly so endearing. She took a moment to bask in the comfortable silence between the two. That's something she loved about spending time with Bruce. They could stay in the same room together for hours at a time without speaking to eachother and it was nice! They just enjoyed each others presence, there wasn't a need to talk.

He was so focused he didn't even realise she was staring which she was grateful for. Was he always so handsome? She caught herself staring at him eyeing his features. She slapped herself on the cheeks.

Okay okay okay!

Just think! Something you hate about him!

She peered over at his hunched posture as he now leaned against a microscope. She watched his hands work. Ahh there was nothing she hated about him! Sure he was quiet but she was loud! Sure he was kind of boring but she was kind of impulsive, SURE he dedicated a lot of his time to relaxing but SHE dedicated a lot of her time to fun. She couldn't call out anything she interpreted as unappealing as she had equal undesirable albeit different traits. Besides she only found them endearing! She wondered for a moment if Bruce thought she was endearing too? She slumped her head against the desk and wallowed in her own self pity. She decided it was time to stop, she couldn't bare this any longer! She stood with a new resolved ambition and marched over towards him. She poked him in the cheek until he reacted to her.

"Sol don't, I'm busy."

"I'm bored."

"Then find something to do."

"Great idea!" 

She waited until he finished his sentence, safely removing his pen from the page before she snatched the book away from him. Bruce capped his pen and looked up at her.

"Alright. You've got my attention."

"Lets do something."

He gave her a pointed look. "Like what?"

"Go outside, have a day off. Let's do something!"

"Yeah I'm not much of an outdoorsy kind of person if you haven't noticed."

"Come on Bruce! Doesn't doing the same thing over and over again every day get dull?! You can't be cooped up here forever! You'll get sick!"

"I don't get sick. I can't anymore."

"Well you just have an answer for everything don't you?"

"I try. I am a scientist."

She tried to hold back a smile, this wasn't the time to be laughing! She was on a mission!

"Aww come on Bruce! What did you use to do for fun? Other then science work! Let's take a day off tomorrow and do something in the city!"

Bruce relented, he knew she wasn't going to stop any time soon and that meant he wasn't going to get back his notebook so he agreed. "Alright."

"Tomorrow it is! How about 10? Don't disappoint me! I have to go work now bye!"

She slammed his notebook back on the table and scurried out of the room, not waiting for his response opting to instead make a quick exit hoping that didn't seem too obvious. She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. What did she just do...?

Bruce watched as she left the lab, feeling an uneasiness quell in his stomach. What did he just agree too...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh you guys I'm so excited! Next chapter is finally their first date! I'm finally gonna force these two cuties together! I want to thank everyone so much for the reviews and interest in my story so far! I hope I don't disappoint you all! ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhhhh my gosh I struggled SO much on this chapter I just wanted them to have the PERFECT date and nothing I wrote seemed good enough and Bruce deserves the best and he's stuck with my writing! XD In the end I just went 'screw it' and threw in some good old angst I hope y'all enjoy ^^'

The next morning Bruce stood dumbfounded as he stared at Solerah. She had plaited one side of her inverted bob cut and tucked the other side behind her ear but what really drew his attention was her choice in attire. She was wearing a flowing pastel rainbow ombre dress. The light pinks, blues, yellows and greens all splattered and meshed together. It was nothing like the short tight black cocktail dress she wore and as much as Bruce knew he would never be able to get that image out of his brain he decidedly liked this dress better. It was just... So her. There wasn't any other way to describe it. It was bright and beautiful and a little bit over the top for his taste just like she was.

"You look...."

Stunning, beautiful, perfect, I think I love you...

"... Nice."

"Really?" She looked down at herself and spun around, causing the shimmery opaque dress to flutter. "Thanks!" She smiled at him, she wanted to look nice since it's not often she got to go out into the city just to have fun that and she may or may not have wanted to look a little extra nice to impress him. She looked at Bruce's clothing, a sleek dark button up tucked into black slacks secured with a belt as she tilted her head to the left and gave him a lopsided grin. "Well you look pretty snazzy yourself!" More then just snazzy, goodness gracious you clean up nice! She hoped her staring wasn't too obvious.

Bruce turned his head and forced a cough so he could bring his hand to his face to hide his blush. He's not about to admit he tried to coordinate his clothing just a little more, okay maybe a lot more then usual or the fact that he shaved and tried to fix his hair for this, this definitely not date, this casual outing between two friends, this activity he was doing with another person as apposed to individually. 

"Thanks."

"Let's go!" She giggled excitedly and took his arm, dragging him towards the elevator to reach above ground. He felt the cool touch of the bangles she wore against his skin and that grounded him just a little. She bounced on her heels in the elevator, humming as she watched the digital display of the floors going up.

"Sooooo my sunshine, any ideas for what we should do today?!"

Bruce pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and started reading off it, before Solerah quickly interrupted him, peering at the creased paper. "Wait hold on! You wrote a list for this?"

"Uh-yes?" Bruce held the paper in his grip a little bit tighter, scanning over her face for any negative response. He kicked himself internally. He knew it was a stupid idea to write an itinerary the night before! But he couldn't seem to calm his frayed nerves any other way. Solerah only grinned wider and Bruce was starting to worry her cheeks would split at the rate her smile was going.

"That's pretty neat!"

"... It is?"

"Yeah! I never plan anything like that! It's nice to have a little organisation once in a while! My plan was to just walk around until something interesting happened." The way she smiled at him made Bruce feel more relaxed. Last night he had wracked his brain for ideas and researched everything they could of done.

"There's a museum in the city."

Bruce stopped going to museums a long time ago, afraid he would break all the priceless treasures. But if he had to go somewhere that felt like the safest bet. It could be a good test to see how controlled he was now too.

"A museuem huh?" She gave him a sly grin causing him to raise his brows in confusion.

"What?"

"That is such a YOU thing to suggest!"

"Well l was actually going to suggest skydiving but then l decided against it." Sarcasm was laced in every word as he returned her grin.

They stepped out of the elevator and into the visible warehouse that disguised C.O.D.E.X. and Solerah took the lead, chatting to the agent and filling out the necessary forms that were required when someone went off base.

Time Of Check Out: 10:07am

People Leaving: Bruce Banner and Solerah The Super Awesome Mega Power Babe

Reason For Check Out: Fun!

Signing Out Vehicle: (√)

Extra Details: Alfred Redgrave smells.

She strolled back to Bruce casually as she twirled a set of keys around her index finger. "Can you drive?" Bruce nodded so Solerah threw the keys at him. He fumbled a little at the sudden action but caught them.

"Great! You can drive then!"

"You can't?"

"Well I mean I CAN but Alfie says I shouldn't. Something about fearing for his life whenever he's in a car with me." She waved it off as she headed towards their assigned car for the day. It wasn't anything fancy, just a plain white car that wouldn't be noticed or picked out. They hopped in and Solerah immediately called control of the radio after she rolled down her window. Bruce mumbled out a "Sure" as he started the engine and began driving. She flicked through the channels before she landed on the latest hits station.

"I LOVE THIS SONG!"

"This song is terrible." Bruce responded as he frowned at the annoying pop song blaring on the radio.

"I know! It's so stupid! That's why I love it!" She burst out into song and Bruce ended up smiling, her logic made no sense to him but who was he to judge.

He glanced at her every now and then as she belted out each note and waved her hands to the beat as her hair whipped around in the wind. He tapped his finger against the steering wheel as she sang. He always heard her hum or harmonise her words but he had never actually heard her singing properly. She was good. She was better then good. Bruce also liked the fact that her singing meant he didn't have to talk and that completely eliminated any awkward small talk that could arise from a car trip.

Once they were parked and out of the car Bruce awkwardly offered his arm, allowing Solerah to loop hers around his extended arm.

"Why thank you good sir." She spoke in a playful tone as they began to walk to their first destination. Solerah had forbidden the subject of work and science leaving Bruce to have to pull himself out of his comfort zone which he could honestly say he didn't mind doing so as much as he thought he would. Solerah had a strange talent for making him feel like everything was new again, like everything was fresh and exciting and she even made him want to go out and explore these new things. He felt like he could do almost anything with her linked to his arm.

They entered the museum and Solerah looked around in awe. As they wandered through the various exhibits and displays Bruce's natural instincts for knowledge kicked in and he integrated himself seamlessly into the surroundings. This was where Bruce was most at ease, all around facts and information so clear and precise. He took charge as he lead Solerah around, explaining whatever peaked her interest and made her point at.

"You're so smart BB."

"You know I'm just reading the labels for most of these right?"

"Well yeah but I like hearing you explain it."

She hugged the arm she was holding and rested her head against his shoulder. With a small burst of confidence Bruce grinned proudly at himself as Solerah tugged his arm moving to the next section. She broke away from him when they reached the dinosaur exhibit and ran to the life sized displays.  
"Bruce they're me size!!!!" She squealed excitedly raising her arms up and standing on her toes. He shook his head at her before walking up to her. "They're so cute! Ohhh I want one~" She squeaked looking up lovingly into the Tyrannosaurus Rex's eyes.

"A dinosaur wouldn't exactly make a good pet Sol."

"Yeah but imagine the look of fear in your foes face as you ride one into battle!" She clenched her fists excited at the idea. Bruce wrapped an arm around her waist and lead her away from the display so that some children behind them could see it and over to different fossils and bones.

As the day progressed Bruce found it harder and harder to ignore the nagging thoughts at the back of his mind. He watched from the parents bench with the other adults as Solerah sat cross legged on the floor with children huddled around her as they watched an interactive demonstration video, playing with them and helping them with reading bigger words. Bruce honestly didn't know who was more excited between her and the kids.

Left to his own thoughts his mind wondered to Solerah. Solerah was nice. TOO nice even. It wasn't so much that she was naive but she put herself in dangerous or unpleasant situations for the benefit of the doubt of someone. She was too trusting for Bruce's liking and it gave him more of a reason to want to protect her. Protect her from harm and protect her from men with impure intentions, he'd seen the way people looked at her all while she remained innocently oblivious and he felt his rage build up when it happened unless he quickly whisked her away from that situation. Rage... Flashes of the Hulk sprung to mind. What he really needed was to protect her from himself...

Bruce was use to being alone. After everything that happened he was ready to live life alone, he almost welcomed it with how awkward he was anyway. He would be fine alone, but Solerah? He watched as she interacted so easily with the children and anyone around her. Would it even be fair to take her away from that? Surely it would happen if she stayed with him since they'd be no way he'd ever be able to settle somewhere.

They soon left the museum and Bruce silenced his thoughts in favour of taking her to their next destination. They entered a bookstore giving the clerk a smile and wave of acknowledgement. Bruce was worried about this stop, he wasn't sure how interested she would be in books but those worries quickly vanished when she let go of him to run into the store and look around.

"I'm going to look at fantasy!" Solerah ran off and they started browsing the shelves individually. This was so much fun! She was having a blast! She traced the book spines along the shelf before picking out a second hand book and holding it up to her nose, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. When she opened them she saw a man staring at her oddly.

"Uhhh, old books smell nice you know?" She let out a weak laugh and grinned awkwardly as she returned the book to its place and quickly shuffled away from the man. There was something precious about books she had to admit. She did find a certain strange comfort in being surrounded by books. Alfred had really taught her to appreciate the value of them. 

She peered over the shelf and saw Bruce browsing. She smiled at him, he now had his glasses perched on his nose and was flipping through a book. She sighed dreamily as she gazed at him before quickly snapping out of it, deciding she didn't want to get any more strange glances.

After she had her fun and pick of books she went to the register to buy them and turned when Bruce walked up beside her.

"What did you get?" 

"Oh just some neat looking fairytales." He looked at the spines of the masterworks she had found as they were being scanned.

"I really like fairytales! Good morals I think." She nodded to herself before she looked at the bag he was holding.

"What'd you buy!?"

"Just some science books."

"Boring." She made a sour face as she moved backwards away from the bag.

Bruce wasn't about to admit the stack of books he bought were various self help books on controlling anger, calming techniques and other similar things. 

Now more then ever he had to get rid of the other guy. He wanted to be with Solerah. He wanted to be able to hold her, kiss her and touch her without having to worry about hurting her but he couldn't. He frowned as they left the bookstore. He couldn't even have sex, how could he possibly expect her to even want a relationship with him if she knew that. 

Solerah's eyes lit up with excitement when they arrived at a small gelato shop. "We're getting iced cream?!" She squeaked as she looked at him smiling.

"I'm going to go deaf by the end of this day." Bruce teased her as they entered. A small bell rang when the door opened. Solerah wasted no time pressing her hands against the glass and peered at all the tubs containing the colourful ice cream. 

"I want every flavour!"

"You can have one."

"Three!"

Two."

"Deal!"

The girl at the counter smiled at them as she took their orders and soon enough they were sitting outside the shop, at a table with a shade umbrella. Solerah tore right into her chocolate and cookies and cream cone as Bruce slowly ate his caramel with walnuts cone. They sat in a comfortable silence and while he was enjoying it, it sadly meant his mind was free to wonder again.

He kicked himself mentally for letting Solerah come blazing her way into his life. With that sweet face and smile and love for everything around her. The simplest things brought her joy and she found the good in anything. How could a person always be so eager to help someone? She actually cared about him and he wanted that. He wanted so desperately for someone to care for him and he wanted to be able to care for someone just as much.

Since his time at C.O.D.E.X Solerah quickly became the most important thing in his life and that scared him. He became use to their routine  and the idea of her not being in his life now was unimaginable and that was dangerous. She didn't just see the good in him, she saw all the bad and for whatever reason she still wanted him. 

"This was the best day I've had in a long time." Bruce admitted as he people watched.

"Me too." Solerah spoke in a much quieter voice then she usually did that Bruce almost didn't hear her. "I haven't had this much fun in ages and I think it wouldn't of mattered what we did, I just... I really just love being with you Bruce." She reached out and held his hand, giving him a small contented smile as Bruce linked their fingers.

\--------------------------------------------

Eventually they made their way back to the base and towards the lab. Bruce needed to check on some time sensitive experiments and Solerah decided she wanted to go with him. Bruce was getting more and more conflicted. He checked everything he needed to on his computer as Solerah had seated herself in her swivel chair, twirling around. When she stopped after getting too dizzy she smiled at him and the way she looked at him just made everything all the more harder.

"We can't do this anymore."

"Do what?" Solerah looked confused, tilting her head to the side.

"This, us, everything!" Bruce gestured between the two of them. "Solerah..." He made a conscious effort to use her full name. "I don't want to see you anymore."

This made her stand, the chair pushed and fell back violently. "What are you talking about?!" Bruce ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ground as he tried to pull together the right words.

"I think we need to stop seeing each other..."

That statement tore a hole right through Solerah's heart. What was happening?

"Why...?" She barely managed to breathe out. "I thought we had fun today? Did I do something wrong?"

"No! No you didn't. It's me Solerah."

She deadpanned at him. "You're really going to expect me to be happy with that answer? I'm an alien but I'm not stupid."

"I'm not normal Solerah. I-" Bruce didn't know how to finish that sentence but it didn't matter as Solerah had crossed her arms and spoke anyway.

"Not normal? So? What? You want normality in your life? You're forcing the idea onto yourself. Who cares!? If you want it so much then let me be your piece of normality Bruce."

"How can you even say that when you're not normal either!"

Solerah froze.

She felt like there was a deep cut in her chest that she couldn't explain and Bruce's eyes widened at what he had just said, immediately regretting it. It was just he felt so boxed in at that moment so he lashed out! He didn't mean it! He felt his stomach clench painfully as he saw tears well up in her eyes.

"Solerah I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean that! It's just that I'm a radiated freak, you-" Bruce quickly tried to explain but Solerah cut him off, raising her hand to silence him. Her tears were gone and she was glaring at him.

"You're a freak... YOU'RE a freak?! You say you're a freak but your not! Look at you Bruce! A man who sometimes turns into a 'monster' you're a human! Look at me! LOOK AT ME!!!!"

Solerah growled, she grabbed the corners of her dress and lifted it over her head, throwing it to the ground as she grew back into her true self. Not bothering with her shoes, they burst off and the fabric of her stretchy bra and the shorts she was wearing under her dress were pushed to the limit. She had made sure to wear something that could stretch out in case of an emergency to cover her modesty.

"Look at me Bruce..." She spoke in a much softer tone, pushing her now long white hair out of her face. "A monster who sometimes turns into a human. I'm the freak here Bruce... But when I'm with you I feel normal. You MAKE me feel normal Bruce! You make me feel safe and happy and you make me forget the horrible thing I really am! I was hoping, I was hoping I could do the same for you..."

Bruce felt his heart ache at how highly she regarded him and he wanted to say the same thing, to hold her and make this whole argument disappear. What came out of his mouth instead was much different. "You're out of your mind Solerah! You're crazy! Out of everyone there is you had to pick me to hang around with? Don't you understand I'm trying to protect you!"

"Well... You're doing a terrible job!"

With that Solerah stomped her foot and marched towards the door. It slid open and she stepped outside, ducking over sideways so she could face him one more time. "You just pretend that I am slamming this door!" She pouted at him, making a motion with her hands before running away as the automatic door slid closed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! This chapter is a little short but I felt it was the right place to break and besides the date chapter was more then double the length of my usual ones XD Please enjoy~

"ANNNND THEN HE YELLED AT ME AND THEN I YELLED AT HIM AND THEN I COULDN'T SLAM THE DOOR TO MAKE A DRAMATIC EXIT AND ALLLLLLLLLFIIIIIIIIIIE WHY WON'T BRUCE UNDERSTAAAAAAND????!?!!!!?!!?!!!????"

Solerah was lounging on her stomach on the couch in Alfred's office, swinging her legs back and fourth as she cried, her words dissolving into sobs and cries.

"You got me kid." Alfred said after he waited for her to calm down while he typed away at his computer, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose as he filed reports. Solerah heaved a sigh, peaking up at him. When he didn't respond she sighed louder. Still with no response Solerah started whining, kicking her feet on the arm of the lounge. "Stop ignoring me!" Alfred let out a huff of breath as he turned his chair to face her. "Star. Stop. You're going hypersonic." He made a face and cringed at her volume and pitch.

"Why do you even like the guy so much?"

"You think l know?!" She was exasperated. "I wish l knew! He's nothing like anyone I would of gone for before! I don't know Alfie, a switch just clicked and..." She groaned, covering her hands with her face. "I don't know..."

"You could talk to him? From what I've seen you two just sort of skirt around eachother. It's awkward to watch." He hummed in thought, nodding at all the times he had saw them interact.

"But it's not awkward to us Alfie! I love spending time with him and I know he likes spending time with me otherwise he wouldn't let me bother him at his lab so much. I mean... That date was sooooooo perfect!" She started smiling and blushed as she thought of the date.

"Until the part where he called you abnormal and crushed your heart."

"Yes thank you Alfie, until the part where he called me abnormal and crushed my heart." Solerah glared at him.

"I love having him as a friend and everytime I think we could be going somewhere more, I don't know one of us pulls back and we're just caught up in this mess of feelings! I don't know what to do. I just... What do I do Alfie? This hurts..."

Alfred listened to her monologue. He knew he wouldn't get any work done until she was satisfied and since she directly ignored his suggestion of talking to him he'd have to try a different approach. "Maybe you should just stay away from him for a few days." He raised his hand shushing her before she interrupted him. "You said he really hurt you with what he said so just give yourself some time alone. If you go back in there tomorrow either pretending nothing happened or talking to him while you're still upset whose that gonna help? Besides, distance makes the heart grow fonder right? What you gotta do, is make him come to you. Classic move."

"I... GUESS you're right."

"I'm obviously right. Now will you PLEASE let me work in peace and put some clothes on!"

"Wha? Oh..." Solerah looked down at herself. Right... She kind of stormed straight to Alfred's office after she left the lab. "Good call." She smiled awkwardly and backed away to the door. "Thaaanks Alfie!" She grinned at him through the half way closed the door.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome."

After she had left the room Alfred began to resume his typing. He let out a deep sigh and hoped this situation would resolve itself soon. He hated seeing her so unhappy and he hadn't seen her this hurt in a long time.

When Solerah made her way back to her room she saw a plastic bag hanging on her door handle. Curiously she took it and peaked into the bag to see the books she bought and her dress folded nicely on top with a small scrape of lined paper laid on it that read 'I'm sorry'. She took the paper and stared at it as she walked into her room, throwing the bag on the floor. "I can ignore him." She tried to convince herself as she moved to lay on her bed. Opting to stay in her true form, she raised her knees with her feet flat on the mattress so she could fit onto it. "Make him come to me..." Solerah didn't think this was a good plan but when was Alfred ever wrong? She rolled over into a ball and wrapped the covers around herself, the bed creaked in protest at the extra weight of her true from. For the first time in a long time she had no intention of getting out of bed the next day, she felt like she deserved a lazy day.


	12. Chapter 12

Bruce tapped his pen as his eyes kept flicking towards the clock. This was the fourth day Solerah hadn't come to visit him and he was worried. He didn't know whether to be happy that she stayed away or upset. He knew she wasn't on a mission because he didn't think it would hurt to take a look at the system's schedules. It wasn't an invasion of privacy, he was just concerned, that was all. He looked at the clock again and his stomach growled, it missed the regular meals Solerah had enforced him to have. He wanted to pretend that was all he missed. He looked at the chair Solerah had claimed as her own, seeing an image of her swinging in circles and making herself sick as she often did.

He shook his head and dropped his pen, standing up and walking out of his lab. He couldn't take this anymore. He made his way to the foodcourt and once there his posture hunched and he started rubbing his wrists as he looked over the many tables of people, scanning for her face. Come on Sol where are you?

The incessant chattering of everyone in the room was starting to get to him. She would never miss a meal, she loved food too much. He supposed he'd check her room next but he started having doubts if he should be chasing her up, especially if she didn't want to see him and after what he said he wouldn't blame her. His thoughts were broken when Alfred walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's in the sky deck." Alfred said giving Bruce a thumbs up as he walked into the foodcourt. "Go get her." Was his words of advice as he winked causing Bruce to look at him with concern. Never the less he found himself promptly walking towards the sky deck.

He made his way to the elevator to the upper floors, the sky deck was so appropriately named because it was the one part of the underground base where you could see the sky, having built a securely hidden glass roof there people used it as an area to relax. He reached for the door knob, fingers wrapped around it as he paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before entering the room.

His eyes lightened when he saw her laying on the plush carpet and staring through the sky lit ceiling, a small bag of confectionary laid beside her. "Sol?" He said softly as he approached her. 

"What do you want?" She spoke in an uninterested tone, nowhere near her usual excited greeting. He wanted to cringe but he deserved that. He sat down beside her, laying next to her and staring up at the sky.

"I haven't seen you in a couple days. The labs been quiet."

"I've been busy..."

"Sol... I'm sorry."

"Why? You've done nothing wrong."

Bruce stayed quiet for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

"You're not a freak Solerah."

"Bruce. I'm an alien. I am literally a giant alien. If it weren't for this implant no one would like me. They would run from the 8 foot tall giant grey woman."

"Sol that's not true."

"It is and you know it."

Bruce sat up and looked at her.

"Turn back."

"What?"

"Go on. Turn back to your real self."

Solerah looked at him with suspicion but shrugged, sitting up, she kicked her shoes off and shifted into her true self. She hugged her knees and her head sank into her shoulders, trying to make herself appear smaller as she sighed. Bruce looked at her with a hint of a smile as he traced his hand across her elongated face, causing her to look at him. "I don't see a freak. I see someone beautiful no matter what form they're in."

"BB..." Solerah smiled shyly, her grey cheeks tinged a dark blue as she leaned her head into his touch.

"Don't call yourself a freak again."

"I won't call myself a freak if you don't call yourself a freak, deal?"

Bruce took his hand away, taking a moment to respond. "Deal..." He said slowly, thinning his lips.

"Nooooo! You have to mean it!" Her face scrunched up as she pouted at him and held up her little finger at him. "Pinky promise!"

Bruce wanted to roll his eyes at her childish belief in the pinky swear, instead he simply hooked his small digit around her larger one. "Pinky promise. Neither of us are freaks." 

Solerah grinned at him smugly, giggling a little as they let go and Bruce allowed himself to grin back.

"You are crazy though." He teased, playfully bumping her shoulder with his, causing her to laugh.

As her laughter died down she sighed. "You're doing it again..."

"Doing what...?"

Solerah stood, shifting back into her human form and looking around. After checking to see if they were alone, she finally spoke up.

"Pulling me back in. You tell me to go away or leave you alone but then you go and do something like this. Bruce... We gotta talk about this, about us."

She sat back down next to him and waited for his response, watching him carefully. When he didn't speak up she frowned and spoke again.

"Look... l think I've made my feelings pretty clear so if you don't feel the same way just tell me. Look me in the eyes and tell me right now that you want me to leave you alone. I'll stop bothering you if you just tell me that." She started off strong but now she was struggling not to cry.

"Solerah, whatever we have now, it won't work." Bruce clenched his fist and finally looked at her.

"So you admit there's something between us!"

"You're focusing on the wrong part of this...."

"Then tell me Bruce!"

Bruce inwardly cringed at her tone. This was it. After a year of trying to push her away and debating in his mind whether or not she deserved better as well as if he deserved to let himself be happy. All he had to do was say the word and she would be safe. All he had to do was break her heart... Bruce tried to steel himself as he looked at her. Even though he could clearly see her eyes were glassy and her lip twitching she was still smiling, as if she was trying to reassure him, to make sure he was okay even at her own expense. She cared so much for him and if Bruce was going to be honest with himself he wanted to be able to have the luxury to care about someone just as much.

He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "I don't..." Come on! All you have to do is say it Banner! Say it and she's safe. She could move on and fall for someone else, someone better. Bruce didn't like the tinge of jealousy at his own thoughts of this imaginary man. She could have a real chance at happiness, she could find someone who didn't have to worry about the possibility of accidentally seriously injuring her or even killing her.

She could do better...

She could be safe....

She could...

She could stop staring at him with that face!

How was Bruce suppose to break her heart while she was making that face! Ever since she met him she always looked at him with that face and it infuriated him! Like no matter what he did to her she could never even begin to be disappointed by him, like being scared of him was an entirely foreign concept to her.

"You don't want me Solerah. I can't even be intimate with you. I can't have sex."

"So? A relationship isn't solely about isn't sex. So DON'T tell me what I don't want Banner because I want you!" Even Solerah was shocked at her own statement, she had never in all her long years been so bold until she met Bruce. She had ALWAYS waited for someone else to make the first move and she never really chased someone the way she did with Bruce. She never put so much effort into wanting to be with anyone and that alone made Bruce all the more special to her. He frowned at her crass attitude but stood firm with his point.

"No. We can't. I can't have kids, I can't have a life, l can't have a home. I can't give you all the things you would want. I can't have a future Solerah. There is no where I can run where the destruction of the hulk won't follow and I'm not going to drag you into that world!"

"Yeah well there's no where you can run that I won't follow you either!"

Solerah glared up at him and he looked taken aback, even more so when her glassy eyes finally spilt and tears were rolling freely down her face. "Please... Bruce. I don't care what the future is like. I don't care where we'd have to run or how we'd have to live. I'll take all the bad with any good... I just... I want to be with you... I just want to try... Please..."

"Why do you want to try so badly?" What Bruce really wanted to say was why did she fall for him but that worked too.

"Because l had this crazy little idea that maybe we could have a shot at being happy together."

Bruce nodded, letting her words sink in. He could hardly believe her resolve, he felt like he wasn't worth the amount of effort she's put into him but at the same time he knew she'd probably say the same thing about herself. Maybe they could have a chance at being happy? Maybe he should try one last time.

"Bruce... Quit stringing me along. Tell me your decision."

She was right, he needed to make a choice. Every time he tried to push her away and she actually gave him space he came running back to her like a puppy with its tail between its legs. He couldn't keep doing his to her. It wasn't fair. He needed to make a decision. Would he be putting her in constant danger? Yes. Could he live with himself sending her away? No...

He sighed as the last of his resolve finally fizzled out. Bruce Banner was many things and right now he was the most selfish man on earth. Because right now, he slid his fingers past her tear stained cheeks and weaved them into her hair as he gently pulled her closer to him closing the gap between them. Solerah froze save for the small gasp Bruce's action pulled out of her. Her fingers twitched at her side as her brain worked overtime to decipher if this was real or not. It felt real... It felt fantastic... She relaxed into the kiss and clutched the fabric of his shirt, gently pulling him closer. Bruce took this as a sign of encouragement and deepened the kiss. 

He finally let go of that small inhibition, drowned out that tiny voice that cried 'no' and look where it got him.

When they finally pulled away they sat together in silence, staring at eachother. The only noise was their heavy breathing which even then was mainly her. Bruce was breathing at a much slower rate then her, taking in calculated breaths and she had no idea how he managed it because she was inhaling all the air she could! Her face felt like it was on fire but in the best way possible, her heart felt like it was going a mile a minute and her lips were tingling like crazy. She wondered if Bruce was going through the same things she was. Judging by how hot his forehead was when he pressed it against the crook of her shoulder he was in fact experiencing the same symptoms she was. Her hand raised from his shirt up past the nape of his neck and into his curls and just held it there. She didn't say anything, she felt like she didn't need too. It was an oddly comforting silence and she was going to bask in it for as long as she could while she caught her breath.

"Well that sure is some way to tell a girl you don't like her BB." She said finally breaking the silence, making Bruce laugh into her neck and look up at her. "Yeah I guess I'm not too good at that." He played along with her causing her to grin as he looked up at her. "I guess all that's left to do is ask if... Will you, be mine?" Bruce felt a pang of shyness that came with the question. He knew she wouldn't say no after everything that's happened but the fear of doubt was still there. Solerah smiled softly, she was so happy she felt like she was about to cry again.

"Took you long enough..." She breathed out, grinning as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for another kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys trigger warning! There's going to be a description of semi graphic gore/body horror. I'll mark it with ********* so you'll know where to skip and where to continue reading if it's something you'll think will affect you and I'll just explain a small note of what happened. Thank you!

There was a period of adjustment as they got use to their new status as a couple. While they more or less stayed the same, the air around them was slightly different. Every now and then they'd exchange a shy smile, like teenagers in disbelief that they were dating. Solerah became more affectionate while still maintaining a respect of Bruce's aversion to intimacy and Bruce became more relaxed to her presence. He didn't feel the pressure of having to impress her or wondering what she was thinking anymore.

Bruce had actually surprised Solerah when he ended up taking a lot more extra time off working to just be with her. Instead of spending every moment together in the lab as they usually did they started to venture else where. They now spent most nights, discovering the finer points about eachother.

Upon Solerah's request they were playing 20 questions. She said that it was the funnest way to get to know all the little things about a person. So here they were laying head to head and gazing at the stars in the skydeck asking each other silly questions.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Purple."

"Really?!"

"What did you think it was green?" Bruce smiled and quirked a brow.

"N-noooooo." She shuffled slightly, her voice drawled out.

"Is yours red?" 

"How did you know?!"

You always wear bright red shoes."

"Ooooh." Solerah lifted up her feet, swinging them back and fourth in the air, giggling. "Yeah I guess I do. Okay your turn!"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I have an older brother!" She said excitedly before frowning slightly. "I really do miss him..." She shook her head to rid herself of any sadness.

"Do you?"

"I don't but I have a cousin that's practically my sister."

"Aww that's nice... OH OH OH WAIT I'VE GOT ONE!!!!!" She stomped her feet excitedly.

"Okay okay what is it?"

"What's the dumbest thing you've ever done?"

"I asked you out didn't l?" Bruce had a sly smirk on his face as Solerah scoffed.

"We can't have the same answer!" She threw back at him as she reached sideways and patted his face. Bruce grabbed her hand and kissed it before intertwining their fingers and resting their connected hands back on the ground beside them.

"Well I wasn't exactly popular in high school."

"What?? Noooo, I can't believe that!"

"I know hard to imagine right? Anyway l was bullied a lot and it got to a point where l ended up building a homemade bomb."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, it was a dud luckily, I don't even really remember doing it, just the consequences. That's how the military found me anyway. They paid for my college education on the condition I'd work for them."

As Bruce spoke he squeezed Solerah's hand lightly and she gave a reassuring squeeze back. "Well Banner that is pretty dumb!" She chirped up, trying to cheer him up with a showing she had an air of aloofness about it.

"I can still beat it! My whole life is pretty much me doing something before thinking about it! Hmmmm the dumbest thing I've ever done... I was almost harvested once."

"... Harvested?"

"Yeah that was a pretty crazy time. It was entirely my fault too. What's that phrase? Curiosity killed the cat?"

"Alright alright you win."

"Yes!!!!" Solerah raised the hand Bruce wasn't holding and pumped the air as Bruce rolled his eyes.

They spent the rest of the night talking until it was late and they both went to bed, or more Solerah went to bed and Bruce did some late night lab work.

\--------------------------------

Solerah let out a scream.

She had her hands clamped over her mouth as she let out heavy shaky breaths. She tried her hardest not to make noise as she crouched against the wall trying to make herself disappear. She could feel the small rocks pressing and digging into her skin as she squeezed herself further into the crevice she was hiding in. She couldn't help but let out small whimpers as she heard the scraping of metal dragging along the hard ground.

"You can't hide forever."

She heard the gargantuan she was hiding from swing his cleaver sword and hit various walls and rocks, trying to scare her into making more noise. She bit the insides of her cheeks hard to keep herself silent.

"Found you."

She screamed as she felt thick fingers wrap around her ankles and pull her upwards. She was screaming and reduced to a blubbering mess as she wriggled to try and free herself. She never should have left! She should have listened! She was going to die...

The being before her walked and ignored her punches and pleas. He was large and broad, standing at 10 feet and with a thick muscled frame. His maw was oversized with sharp pinprick teeth. His skin was a deep rusty red and his eyes were filled in purple. He had two arms however at the elbow joints of each arm stemmed two forearms and hands.

"Please don't do this!"

She cried and struggled as he threw her into a room and locked the door. She skid on the ground sliding on something sticky. She gathered her bearings enough to sit up, she looked at the mysterious substance she was now covered in and held her shaking hands up into the light of the fire hooked onto the wall. Her eyes slowly widened at the deep blue.

It was blood...

She was frozen.

Her brain just stopped.

Her throat made tiny mewls as if it were trying to work itself into a scream but couldn't as she looked around the dim room.

*********************  
She was suddenly the centre of attention because staring back at her were various other women of her kind. A line of them chained to the wall, others were hanging from a large meat hook wedged between their shoulder blades, all were missing various limbs and pieces... She looked down at herself again... Covered in blood, the blood of her sisters. She was hyperventilating, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't scream, she couldn't move other then shake and tremble violently.

The women around her stared, some gave looks of pity, remembering what it was like when they arrived and some just stared blankly long ago resigned to their fate. One of the older women raised an arm, it was missing her hand and a portion of her forearm and the wound was cauterised. "Child... I'm so sorry."  
**********************

((Basically she ran into a room filled with mutilated members of her species))

Solerah woke up, jolting forward with a scream of terror. She was shaking, she was sweating, she was crying. She threw the blankets off herself and tried to get out of bed only succeeding in falling as she was too shaken up to steady herself. She forced herself up and began running.

\-----------------------------------------

Bruce startled awake at a sudden banging against his door. It took him a moment to remember where he was and that he wasn't in immediate danger. He let out a tired groan as he looked at the clock on his bedside table.

4:47 am

Bruce took a moment to contemplate whether or not he should ignore the door and go back to sleep since he only went to bed half an hour ago but the knocking wouldn't stop and it was starting to agitate him. He threw the covers off himself and got up, as he walked to the door he slid on a t-shirt and a scowl on his face ready to glare at who ever woke him.

"Solerah?"

The annoyance of being woken had left him as he saw her fragile state, clad only in pyjamas she looked at him teary eyed.

"Have you ever had a nightmare that was actually a bad memory?"

Bruce nodded, flashes of all his nightmares of the Hulk and General Ross after him came to mind. Missiles and bullets and who knows what else aimed at him.

"And even though you know it's only a memory you still feel like you're in danger?" She clutched her arms tightly. "Like you can still feel the pain now?"

Bruce swallowed the lump forming in his throat and nodded again. He wasn't entirely sure how to handle this situation.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Yeah." Was the only thing Bruce was able to muster as he stepped to the side and let her in. He wanted to know what happened to her, what she could of possibly dreamed about to make her look so broken but he also knew now was not the time to ask such a thing. Maybe there would never be a right time, he wasn't going to invade her privacy if she didn't want him too so for now he followed her back to his bed. He laid down stiffly, staying away from her and as close to the edge of the bed without it being uncomfortable for himself.

He listened as her sniffling and crying eventually wore down to silence before allowing himself to close his eyes and relax. That didn't last long as he tensed back up when she rolled over towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, foregoing her pillow entirely in favour of using Bruce's chest. His hands twitched at his sides, before he tentatively placed his arms around her in a loose hold.

"Thank you..."

He heard her murmur with a tired voice and finally allowed himself to relax and enjoy the feeling of her in his arms as he tried to drift back to sleep.

And then Bruce finally realised he wasn't wearing any pants.


	14. Chapter 14

14

Bruce blinked his eyes open and stretched slightly. His arms tightened around Solerah, she was laying on his chest and tucked under his chin. He hadn't woken up this relaxed in what was probably years. Having her in his arms was definitely something he could get use too. Bruce repeatedly carded his hand through her hair, just laying there and taking time to absorb this moment. It wasn't often he felt this calm so he made no effort to untangle her from himself and get up.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Of course... He could never just enjoy a moment could he? That would be asking too much. He closed his eyes again, hoping that by ignoring the person they'd go away.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Bruce knitted his eyes together, he didn't want Solerah to wake up, she looked too peaceful, so he delicately removed himself from her and pulled the blankets over her. He slipped on some pants and opened the door. He was greeted by Alfred, who paid little mind to Bruce as he walked past into his room.

"Star wasn't in her room so I assumed she'd be here." He explained as he walked over to Bruce's bed, seeing his theory was indeed correct.

"WAKE UP!" He violently tugged the blanket off of her, causing her to release a high pitched squeal.

"Alfiiiie 5 more minuuuutes." She whined, her hand searching for the missing blanket. Alfred rolled his eyes and grabbed her ankle, yanking her out of the bed and watched her topple to the floor.

"You have a mission. 15 minutes."

And with that he nodded to Bruce as he left the room. Bruce almost didn't know how to react, not expecting such a spectacle first thing in the morning. At the sound of Solerah's groaning he moved to her side, taking her hands and hoisting her up to stand.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fiiiine!" She huffed angrily as she placed her hands behind her, stretching to crack her back. "He always does this if I sleep in for something important."

"How often do you sleep in?"

"Enough times that waking up like that doesn't surprise me anymore."

Bruce watched as she did a few morning stretches, eyeing her legs as she picked up one ankle and and pulled it backwards, swapping legs when she was satisfied. Bruce also watched her shirt ride up slightly as she reached her arm over her head and leaned sideways, repeating the process with her other arm.

She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and clasped her hands together. When she reopened them she had a smile on. "Okay I'm ready to face the day!" She said dramatically, hyping herself up. "I'll see you soon okay?" She smiled at him, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning upwards to gently press a kiss to his lips.

Bruce held onto her waist and kissed her back, frowning slightly when she pulled away. "When will you be back?"

Solerah shrugged as she made her way to the door. "I don't know yet. Gotta go to the debrief. Ask Alfie after I leave if you want."

Bruce's perpetual frown stayed firm as he nodded. "Stay safe?"

Opening the door she turned back to him and smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "I will~! You have fun sciencing while I'm gone!" She shut the door and Bruce was left alone. He sighed as he moved to get dressed, his morning had started out so nice...

\---------------------------

Solerah had burst into the door to the debrief room, she was carrying her boots and had an egg and bacon roll stuffed in her mouth.

"I'MPH HERRER!" Her voice was warped by the roll she was currently chewing.

"13 and a half minutes. Just in time." Alfred announced as he stood at the head of the table with other high ranking agents seated. She smiled and waved at them as she took her seat and tugged her boots.

"Alright team, we're going to infiltrate a small Hydra base." Alfred announced as he gestured to the folders placed in front of each desk. Solerah opened hers up to scan through the files. It was serious time! Super serious time! Serious mission time! She took a deep breath to help her adjust her mood to the situation.   
Serious Star was on the case.

\--------------------------

Hydra Uniform: check  
Blank drive: check  
Confidence: double check!

Solerah made her way down the hallway, weaving her way seamlessly past the other Hydra agents. She had memorised the schematics of the base so this should be a quick and easy mission. The base was small but apparently something big was under the wraps. She needed to extract the information and delete it from here.

Best case scenario: In and out.

Worst case scenario: .... Goodbye Hydra base.

She reached her point of destination, hiding behind a wall corner and peered across to a door. She frowned. No guards? There were suppose to be guards at this door at all times. She didn't like this. She cautiously placed her hand on the door knob opening it slowly and silently. She frowned when she entered the dark room, the large computer and screens provided the only source of light and her eyes widened when she saw a USB drive already downloading everything.

Someone got here first!

"AHHHMMmmfph!" She covered her mouth tightly to muffle her scream of pain. She dodged too late and felt the tip of an arrow pierce it's way through her skin and embed itself near her shoulder blade. She turned to see a Hydra agent come out of the corner wielding a bow, another arrow already aimed at her.

"Drop any weapons you have and back away to the wall or the next ones going between your eyes." The stranger commanded.

Damn it... How did they know they were infiltrated so quickly? He must of been waiting for her?

She hissed in pain at the sting of the arrow in her shoulder. That was probably going to leave a mark! She yanked it out and quickly shifted to her true form causing the injury to heal over, she felt the disguise tear and stretch as the agent shot an arrow at her sign of movement. His eyes widened when it hit her but was unable to pierce her flesh and fell to the ground.

The agent looked her up and down trying to reassess the situation after watching her grow.  
Was she some kind of Hydra experiment?  
He narrowed his eyes, if regular arrows didn't work he'd have to try something different. He reached for an explosive tip arrow and shot at her.

Solerah let out a scream and dropped herself to the ground, pretending to be down. The computer beeped and the agent turned his back to her. She quietly stood, moving fast and kicked him into the wall. He grunted and slumped to the ground, feeling the wind knock out of him.

She moved towards the computer and looked it over. She saw the drive had finished downloading, she took it out and slammed her fist repeatedly into the motherboard and tower, destroying its software and internal harddrive.   
The doors opened and she turned around seeing more agents run in.

"Kill the intruders!"

Intruders?! Plural?! She looked at guy she knocked against the wall.

Oooooh

She couldn't leave him now knowing he wasn't a Hydra agent. She pocketed the USB and swiftly made her way to where the other intruder was. The billets had no effect against her tough skin as she hoisted the man up over her shoulder and grinned at the Hydra agents.  
"You boys are about to see something real special."

\---------------------

"Stop right there!" A deep feminine voice called as Solerah felt a small buzzing sting against her side after she ran out of the Hydra base. She was sure if she was in her human form she'd be on the ground by now. She turned and saw a red headed woman aiming a gun of some kind at her.

"Put him down and hand over the drive." Her voice was commanding, Solerah knew with that level of confidence this woman had the strength to back it up. She raised her hands slowly, dropping the man to the floor. He fell with a thud and let out a groan.

"Opp, sorry." She said sincerely as she looked at him apologetically. She carded her hand through her hair and secretly clicked her earpiece.

"Now the drive."

"That I'm afraid I can't do." Solerah said eyeing the woman carefully. "Can't let it get into the wrong hands."

"How do I know you're not the wrong hands?"

"I guess you don't but I could say the same about you." Her earpiece buzzed softly so she smiled at the woman. "I hope your friend is okay. Maybe I'll see you around?"

The woman shot her gun when she saw Solerah raise her hand but she was too late as out of seemingly nowhere a lead cable wrapped securely around her arm and she was flown away via jet.

\------------------------------

"So I'm expected to believe some... Some what? Amazonian woman stole our drive?" A tall man in a trenchcoat and eyepatch barked out.

The blonde archer pursed his lips and simply nodded, fighting the urge to defend his case while the red headed woman clenched her fist tightly as they were berated. She did not like too lose.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww yeah I'm finally starting to set out some major plot lines! Betty won't really be returning to the series after she leaves buuuut Samuel Sterns will~ *mysterious music*

Solerah pulled down her pencil skirt awkwardly, she pulled at and shifted her black sheer stockings as she quickly made her way to Alfred's office. She was wearing a white short sleeved button up with a grey vest over it and a black cross over tie. It was her 'professional' outfit. Technically worn for when she was doing more PA things for Alfred, the only hint of colour on her were the bright red buckle shoes she had on. She wouldn't of felt right if she didn't have SOME splash of colour on her.

It was time to be professional. Serious Star back in action! She grinned pumping herself up mentally. It always took her a lot of effort to maintain a professional air and not embarrass Alfred. She had to tone down the tone and volume in her voice, act less childish, just in general be more... Well serious! But she could do it! It was fun, almost like a game.

She saw a woman sitting nervously, her posture was unsure and she was clutching a folder for dear life. Solerah put on her best smile as she approached her. She ushered away the two armed agents at the woman's side. This was where she shined as Alfred said. She was the "people person" of the company.

"Hi~!" She chirped as she raised her hand, causing the woman to look up, clutching the folder tighter. "I'm Star! It's lovely to meet you."

She took her hand and held it out stretched for the woman to take it.

"I'm Doctor Betty Ross." She said smiling as she stood to shake Solerah's hand.

Ooooh pretty name! Why does it sound familiar?

She searched the resources of her mind as she made small talk with Betty, waiting for Alfred to arrive.

"Don't be nervous." Solerah said softly. "If you're intentions are what you said everything will be fine. I'll protect you, I promise."

Betty returned her smile and nodded, thanking her as Alfred approached them and introduced himself, leading her into his office.

Solerah pulled up a chair next to Betty as Alfred began typing on his laptop.

"So Doctor Ross. What information do you have?" He asked as he looked at her, eyes sweeping to the folder in her hand as she delicately placed it on the desk and slid it towards him.

"I recently learned Samuel Sterns has escaped the confines of prison. My father thinks that he'll be able to protect these files with the military's current security. I... Don't... This is highly sensitive information that I believe Sterns is after."

"You stole these?" Alfred raised his brow as he took the folder, opening it up and scanning through it.

Betty was silent for a moment as Alfred stared at her, checking her eyes and body language for honesty. "I would rather them be somewhere safe where I know they won't be used." She said returning his gaze with a firm look of her own.

Alfred nodded at her. "Alright. I suggest you stay here for a few days. It'll be safe here and we can set up your alibi so your father doesn't suspect you had anything to do with the missing files. When it's done I'll have some agents escort you back to your home."

Betty nodded, her facial expressions were tight. Solerah knitted her eyebrows together, frowning before she quickly peeked up.

"How about something to eat? You must be hungry!"

Betty looked at Solerah and smiled, she could tell that Solerah was trying to cheer her up. "That would be nice."

"Alright then Star, you can take her to a guest room then afterwards." She nodded and waved Alfred off, placing her hands on Betty's shoulders and pushing her out gently. She was eager to leave behind all the serious business.

\-----------------------

"It must of been hard, going against your father." Solerah smiled sympathetically as they ate together. She had gotten Betty to talk about some of her troubles.

"Yeah, I was really conflicted. It's not that I don't think my father is competent it's just, I've dealt with Samuel Sterns before and I just don't trust him. This was a hard place to find and all the information you keep is under lock and key. It was the only place I could think the designs would be safe." 

"It's hard to do the right thing, especially when you have to do it on your own but I honestly believe you did the best thing possible. The files will be safe here. I promise."

"Thank you, er, Wild Star was it?"

"Hehe well my name is Solerah. Everyone around here calls me Star. Code names are pretty important you know?"

"Solerah? I've never heard a name like that before."

"Yeah, Star is easier I guess."

"I see."

They smiled at each other.

"Thank you for making me feel comfortable here."

"It's okay! Really if you need anything I'll be here for you! I kind of have to watch you either way." She scratched at her head nervously as Betty gave an understanding nod. She imagined this place would have tight security.

As they finished their meals Solerah started navigating her way to the guest rooms, reserved especially for situations like this. They were set up not only for comfort but also security. They were set up with cameras and bugs and high ranking agents had rooms at the edge of each hallway just in case anyone came with ill intentions.

When they rounded the corner she saw Bruce and waved excited at him. Bruce on the other hand seemed so startled he dropped the book and pen he was holding.

"Betty?!"

"Bruce?!"

...  
.......  
...........

Oooooh THAT'S where she heard that name before!

Solerah kept looking between Betty and Bruce, watching their shocked faces and waiting for another reaction. She felt a strange sink in the pit of her stomach.

Uh oh...

\-----------------------

Solerah gripped Alfred's jacket tightly and pulled him down to her level, bringing his face close to hers. "How could you bring that woman onto this base?!" She glared at him, nostrils flared and face contorted into a frown, a deep territorial instinct welled up inside her.

"She said she had information Star, it's not my fault she's your boyfriends ex."

Still gripping his jacket in one hand, she kept glaring at him.

"You're being irrational Star."

"I know I'm being irrational! I'm obviously being irrational! Would you feel very rational if your boyfriends ex, the previous love of his life suddenly rocked up out of nowhere!? Bruce is mine! And! And... ......." Solerah's jealousy and rage calmed slightly as her frown dissolved into a look of sadness, tears welling in her eyes. 

"She's so pretty Alfie... She's really nice too."

She reluctantly let go of Alfred and walked towards the wall, sinking down to sit on the floor, bringing her knees to her chest and her letting head sink into her arms. She let her tears flow freely as she peered up at him, blinking.

Alfred huffed out a sigh, rolling his eyes slightly before he moved to sit next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her slightly towards him. "Hey come on Star. You're worrying over nothing."

She turned her head to face him but kept her cheek against her knee. "I bet she's better then me." Her voice cracked as she let out a small hiccup of a sob.

"There isn't a lady alive better then you."

"What if Bruce doesn't think so...?"

"Then he's not worth you're time." He squeezed her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "And obviously I'm gonna kick his ass." He added when she still looked despondent. She let out a small giggle. "What if he turns into the hulk?"

"I'll kick his ass too."

She laughed harder and wiped her eyes with her forearm, moving to hug him. "Thank you Alfie. You'll always be my number one man."

He returned the embrace and allowed them to have a few moments of comfortable silence before pulling away and patting her. "Come on Shooting Star, lets get off the floor now. We've both got work to do."

"Okay..."


	16. Chapter 16

"Betty?!"

"Bruce?!"

"It's-it's good to see you again." Betty said slowly, a million questions were running through her head but it was all she could think to say.

"I thought you said you didn't want anything to do with me until after I found a cure." Bruce said, there was a slight edge to his tone.

"I FORGOT TO TELL ALFIE SOMETHING! BE RIGHT BACK!" Solerah announced suddenly and took off like a bullet down the hall.

"Sol?" Both Bruce and Betty were broken out of their staring contest by Solerah's abrupt exit.

They both stood in silence, not really knowing what to do at first. Bruce contemplated following Solerah for a moment before deciding against it. It was probably better to leave her to her own devices, besides Betty looked confused and he didn't really want to just leave her there alone. Besides she said she would be coming back.

"So is this where you're staying now?" Betty's soft voice broke through his trail of thoughts, snapping his attention back to her as she leaned down to pick up his book and pen, seeing all the notes and formulas as she closed the book and handed it back to him.

"Uh, yeah. I work here now."

"That's a smart idea... This place is so well run and hidden, it's better then you being on the run and homeless."

"Yeah, I suppose it's nice to stay put." Every single Instinct was telling Bruce to run. He wanted to just disappear into the ground. It was awkward. They both didn't really know how to communicate after so many years apart.

"Are you happy?" Bruce's question was sudden and caught Betty off guard. She swallowed a lump that formed in her throat before she spoke.

"Yes. It took awhile to finally accept you weren't coming back but I moved on. Can't dwell in the past forever." Betty said, her lips were thinned tightly. Bruce felt like that was a direct jab at him.

"I have a girlfriend now." Bruce blurted out, speaking before he thought. He cringed at his own awkwardness.

"Oh?" Betty was silent and Bruce was trying to read her facial expression without any success. "Is she a scientist here too?"

Bruce felt his mouth dry, he pointed to the empty walkway where Solerah had rounded the corner to leave. Betty looked over to where he was pointing and put 2 and 2 together.

"Her? But she's so..." Betty trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence without sounding offensive. Strange? Uh Unique... Loud? Uh, Enthusiastic... Betty knew she wasn't a scientist, she said so herself when they were eating together.

She seemed to be saved as Solerah had reappeared, she made a light "Ooohff!" noise as she had ran too fast and slammed into the wall. She quickly sprang off the wall using her hands for momentum and returned to Betty and Bruce.

"Sorry!" She squeaked. "I just... Uhhhh." Alfred's final words from their prior conversation echoed in her head.

Until Doctor Ross leaves you are to treat this professionally!

I will slit your throat and drink the blood that runs from your neck!

Professionally Wild Star!

Fiiiiiiiiine!

"Forgot to give him an update for a report!" She grinned as she adjusted herself. "Anywhoozles!Doctor Ross if you follow me I can show you to your room."

"You're staying here?" Bruce asked as his brows knitted together.

"Only for a few days. We should catch up."

No, no you shouldn't

Bruce smiled at her reluctantly.

"Okay."

Okay but that's NOT okay

"Alrighty then!" Solerah spoke up clapping her hands once. "I'll take you to his lab tomorrow!" She forced the happy tone in her voice a little, hoping it wasn't too obvious.

"Great! I could see what you're working on then."

I COULD kill her, I mean I WON'T but I COULD...

\---------------

They said their goodbyes and Solerah lead Betty to her allocated guest room.

"If you need anything there's a help button. Click it for anything, whether you want food or something is actually wrong. Someone will come and help you at whatever hour." Solerah explained as she opened the door and moved aside too allow Betty to step inside. "I hope you understand you will be closely monitored whilst you stay here."

"I understand, thank you for your help."

"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Doctor Ross."

"Goodnight."


	17. Chapter 17

Solerah was sitting with her laptop, pretending to type up a report as she peered over the screen watching Betty and Bruce interact. The awkwardness had eventually ebbed away in favour of their mutual love for science and past connection. They spoke about chemistry and science and who knows what! Solerah didn't like it but she also knew she was being silly. They were just talking, they were just catching up and soon Betty would be gone and everything would go back to normal.

Solerah started to actually TRY to type up the report she was meant to do. Her easedropping was practically useless because she didn't understand half the nonsense they were talking about anyway.

Finally her attention picked back up when Betty started avidly talking about Bruce's cure attempts. They started discussing his attempts and failures and how each time hypothetically bought him closer to the cure he so desperately chased after. Betty seemed ecstatic about getting rid of the Hulk and that made Solerah frown. She hated how Bruce talked about him, she didn't need another person on his side.

After 20 minutes of what seemed to be what she could only describe as solid Hulk hating Solerah finally stood. That was all she could stands and she can't stands no more.

"Stop it." She walked towards them as they looked at her.

"What?" Betty asked with a quizzical frown.

"Stop talking about Hulk like that."

Betty looked as if what she had just said was incomprehensible.

"Well excuse me for wanting that thing out of Bruce's life."

"He's NOT a thing!"

"Can I say something...?" Bruce awkwardly tried to pipe up.

"No shut up." Solerah turned to half glare at him so he raised his hands defensively and backed off slightly from the two women.

"It's not fair. What happened to Bruce wasn't fair but it happened. I accept that and I want to be there for him because I don't want him to face this alone."

"And you think I didn't?!" Betty squared her shoulders, standing tall and ready to defend herself.

Professional Wild Star!

The words echoed through her head so she bit the inside of her cheek and held her tongue. She took a deep breath to try and calm down as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Look I'm sorry, l apologise, I was being out of line and rude." She adjusted herself and stepped backwards, gritting her teeth. "I'm going to go and get some snacks." She needed to leave the room before she exploded. Maybe eat some cake.

"Uh I'm not hungry." Bruce finally spoke up, that being the only thing he could think to say.

"When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"......."

"Exactly Bruce, you're going to eat." With that she left, quickly and dignified, trying to responsible and the better person.

Betty laughed humourlessly after Solerah left. "She really takes care of you. Doesn't she?"

"It's not like I asked her too." Bruce frowned, staring at the door. "She just does." Bruce actually wished he could do more to take care of Solerah as well but given the circumstances there didn't seem to be much he could do.

They stood in the lab in silence. The air was thick and heavy.

Betty finally spoke, picking up and reading one of his data journals. "I can't believe she defended that monster."

"Yeah..." Bruce cringed, monster. That's what he was. As long as he had the Hulk inside of him he'd always be a monster. "I'll get rid of him soon. I'm close." Or atleast he believed he was close, he had to be.

Betty gave a soft smile. "Will you come back home when you do?"

Bruce tensed, he hadn't thought about plans further then just ridding himself of the other guy.

"I don't know." He wasn't going to work at C.O.D.E.X forever. Would he still be a wanted man after he cured himself? He hadn't thought that far ahead. He was so lost in thought he didn't realise Betty had stepped towards him and only noticed when she spoke up.

"I realised I made a mistake, I was wrong Bruce. I've really missed you."

"Betty I-" He tried to take a step backwards but his brain went blank when he felt a pair of soft lips connect with his.

Suddenly they heard a clang from outside and Bruce's eyes widened slightly as he felt a pinch of fear in his stomach and pulled away from Betty.

"Solerah?"

He quickly made his way to the open door. He looked out and saw a tray of food laying on the ground and Solerah turning the corner and out of sight. "Solerah!"

\---------------------------

Solerah ran down the hallway, tears in her eyes. She bumped into Alfred half way through and fell.

"Star?" He looked at her, frowning when he saw her tears. He assumed he wouldn't be getting any work done for awhile now that he had to deal with whatever made her sad. Instead of hearing her scream about her problem she shook her head, getting up and running past him.

His eyebrows shot up in confusion. No screaming? No dramatic explanation? No demand for his attention? He watched her run away from him. Something was seriously wrong. Just as he was about to run after her he saw Bruce come running up from the other end of the hall and Alfred saw red.

He glared and grabbed Bruce's shirt, pulling Bruce towards himself. "What did you do to Star?!"

"Nothing! It was a misunderstanding! Let me talk to her!"

The last thing Bruce registered was being punched in the face before he could feel the sudden shift of the Hulk. He tried his hardest to contain the transformation but was unable to as the Hulk sensed pain and forced his way out.

Solerah jumped when she heard a loud crash, her tears stopped as she looked back. She wiped her face and quickly backtracked to see what was going on and if anyone needed help.

\--------------------------

Alfred grunted painfully as his back slammed against the wall and he slid to the floor.

Betty appeared from the other end of the hallway and gasped. Her legs locked in fear as she saw the Hulk. She swallowed and tried to push her fear away.

"H-Hulk?"

"...... Be.... tty...?"

He said slowly, shocked as he saw her again for the first time in years. He took a few steps closer to her, reaching his arm out to her carefully.

"That's right, it's me." Betty smiled, even though she was scared she felt more confident in her ability to subdue him and held her hand out. She wanted to bring Bruce back as soon as possible. Hulk watched her, he could see her fear despite her smile.

That fear that was always there. Everyone always looked at him with fear! He hated it! He never did anything to deserve everyone hating him!

"Alfie?!" 

Both Betty and Hulk turned at the sudden shout as they saw Solerah appear kneeling beside Alfred, Hulk turned away from Betty in favour of stepping toward Solerah, relaxing just the slightest when he saw her. Solerah delicately held Alfred, pulling him forward to sit up. "What happened Alfie?"

"I told you I'd kick his ass." He coughed slightly, a small amount of blood trailed down his mouth as he spoke but still grinned.

"Alfie!" Solerah looked at him with exasperation. "And you call me the dumb one."

She finally looked up at Hulk and Betty. Hulk felt a bad feeling in his stomach. He didn't realise he had hit Alfred until after it happened. His first reaction to the pain Bruce felt was to fight.

"This is all my fault..." She whispered to herself before stepping towards him and giving him a small smile and Hulk saw no fear behind her smile. "Hey, Honeypie. I know you didn't mean it. Alfie was just being stupid." 

"It's okay." She smiled at him and held her arms up, seeing that Hulk reached forward to pick her up. "You're okay. Would you mind terribly turning back into Bruce?" He glared at her but she placed her hands on his cheek. "I know, I know but next time I see you, you can stay out longer okay? I promise. You and I can spend the day together."

Betty snapped her attention to Solerah. How could she say that?! How could she WANT to spend time with that beast! That beast that took away her Bruce!

Solerah could feel him shrinking down, her feet slowly touched the ground again as Bruce fell to his knees, hands still clinging to her waist.

She let go of Bruce leaving him on the floor in a heap and moved to help Alfred, lifting his arm over her shoulder to help him stand. "I'm fine Star."

"You forget how old you are Alfie!" She scolded him as they walked away. Bruce looked up as he breathed heavily, watching Solerah and Alfred walk away.

"Solerah!"

Bruce tried to stand and follow her but he only fell forward, still exhausted from the transformation. Betty quickly caught him before he fell completely.

"Solarah..."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have taken SOME dialogue and a lot of inspiration for how I'm portraying Betty from the Peter David run of the old comics. I can admit I am not fond of Betty because of this run I mean yes she TRIES but she just really hates the hulk and she treated Bruce so unfairly and she left him a few times. When Bruce finally gained full control and had his mind in the Hulks body Betty was mad at him! So yeah I really don't like BettyxBruce I mean they loved eachother but they just weren't right for eachother. I do like Betty as a character just not as Bruce's love interest. Anyway I highly recommend checking out that run and I hope I haven't made any Betty fans upset ^^'

An awkward silence had filled the air as Betty helped a weakened Bruce back to his lab since she didn't know where else to take him. She stood back as she watched him move sluggishly towards a set of draws.

"I feel like we never really emotionally connected. I feel like you were always too afraid." Betty said as she sat on top of a desk, clenching her fists and tensing her shoulders, it may not be the best time but she needed to get this out.

Bruce had pulled on a shirt that he kept in said set of draws for such emergencies and stared at Betty. He took his time to think and formulate an appropriate response to her.

"It's not that I was afraid of emotions, just of what can happen if they get out of control. For me, getting upset or angry has always been bad. First my father and then the hulk, I told you why I had to keep everything under control."

"So because you were so afraid of violence you locked everything away? Then what's the point of living if you don't even have any passion Bruce!?"

"That isn't fair Betty, whenever I tried and broke away from what you considered the 'quiet gentle guy' I was you pushed me away, you hated it, I knew you did so don't deny it. Any time I showed any abrasive emotion you turned me away so that just gave me more reason to shut everything down."

Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't mean to just spill everything out like that.

"You know l loved you. You were so different from all the military men l grew up around. I loved the fact that my father hated you so much and you just were so sweet and timid. I just, I wanted you to need me. To depend on me for strength and then everything just went wrong."

"And l loved you, I did! I loved you with everything that I could express but we both had different ideas that we tried to force on the other." Bruce needed to be careful, he felt unwelcome emotions start to bubble up.

"Bruce... We could still try, we could still make us work."

Bruce was silent for what seemed like forever.

"Go home Betty. Live your life and be happy."

Betty felt tears well up in her eyes, she wanted to fight, to scream, to say SOMETHING but nothing came out. She made her way briskly to the door.

"Goodbye Bruce."

The door was shut with a little too much force making Bruce flinch.

".... Goodbye Betty..."

\------------------------------

After looking everywhere for Solerah, Bruce had finally given up and slowly walked to his room. So when he reached his room he was surprised to see her waiting for him, leaning against his door and looking at the ground.

"Sol-"

"Is the reason why you're working so hard to find a cure because you want to go back to a normal life? With Betty?"

"Wha? Solerah no!"

"Do... Do you even care about me? Or are you just using me because I can handle the Hulk?"

"No! Solerah l'm crazy about you! I-I... l lo-can't live without you."

She took a deep breath and closed the distance between them. "If I wasn't an alien, if l was just a human, would you still be with me? Even with the risk that you could kill me by accident?"

"Solerah..." Bruce sighed heavily. "I don't know... I really don't know okay...? But what I do know is that the fact that you are the way you are." He gently took her hands and interlocked their fingers. "It just means that we were meant to be together. You're always saying things like that right?" Bruce in no way believed in things like destiny or fate but he knew she did and he knew it was what she needed to hear right now.

Solerah looked to the ground, she felt ashamed of everything she had done. Her stony facade faded as her eyes welled with tears. "Bruce... I'm sorry I was jealous. Alfie getting hurt, you transforming, it was all because I was stupid and jealous. If I had just talked to you..."

When she tried to pull out of his grip he pulled her in closer and held her to his chest. "I've gone green over less."

She squeezed him tightly, leaning her head into his chest, finally shedding the tears that she had bottled up over the past few days. She let sobs rake through her body, trembling against Bruce who just held her tighter. He wished he could do something else to ease her mind or calm her down but he just didn't know what he could say or even if he could say anything comforting at all. He felt his stomach clench as what Betty had said echoed through his mind. Solerah deserved more then what he could provide, she deserved someone who could make her feel better, someone who could tell her everything would be okay, someone who-

"Bruce..." Solerah spoke up, breaking him away from his thoughts. "I know you have trouble expressing yourself and I'm grateful that you try for me. Just you holding me is more then enough."

She was perfect...

\--------------------------------

Solerah had stayed with Bruce that night, once again she had cuddled up to him in bed and while she was sound asleep Bruce found himself unable too. He held onto her, arms loosely wrapped around her waist as her head lay in the crook of his neck. Bruce found it easier to relax this time. After their talk outside his door Bruce felt like a wave of pressure had left him. She KNEW he struggled with emotions and words, she didn't expect him to show or say any that he couldn't and most importantly she was for whatever reason OKAY with it all.

Her acceptance wanted to make Bruce try harder, be closer to her, show her how much he appreciated that she was in his life now. For now he just held her, like she wanted. Things would happen eventually and he knew he could comfortably take it one step at a time.

\--------------------------------

The next morning was the day for Betty to leave, she sat waiting for clearance and for a driver to arrive. Her mind was swimming with everything that happened, she didn't regret coming here. If anything she felt a little bit of closure, like she could finally close a long over due chapter in her life that she could never bring herself to fully shut before.

"Hi Betty."

She looked up startled at the voice addressing her and when she saw Solerah she tensed slightly.

"May I sit with you?"

"You can do whatever you want." She said sharply although she didn't mean for it to come out so harsh.

"I..." Solerah paused, trying to work up the courage to speak her mind.

"I-I didn't want us to leave on bad terms. I'm sorry that I'm dating Bruce."

Betty raised a brow at her and she... Laughed, she couldn't help it! This was all so ridiculous! She laughed hard, placing a hand on her stomach. Solerah laughed a little herself, feeling it contagious as Betty laughed hard.

When the laughter finally died down Betty spoke up.

"Heh you're the other woman. I should hate you." She shook her head. "How can you just accept it so easily?"

"Maybe it's because I'm an alien and the Hulks form doesn't scare me on the level it does for humans, but honestly I think it's because Bruce accepted me as well. See I don't always look like this."

Betty remained silent, flexing her knuckles after having them clenched so hard.

"I knew it wasn't going to work out. I shouldn't of kissed Bruce and I'm sorry that I did. It's just that, if I didn't try I would of been thinking of that moment for the rest of my life and all the what ifs that came with it."

Solerah smiled sympathetically as she pulled Betty into a hug.

"I understand."

Betty hugged her back tightly and the two women shared a moment.

\---------------------------------

"Betty and I left on good terms."

"Oh?" Bruce paused. "I wish I could say the same."

"I think you did, she's forgiven you and she's ready to move on. She said if she runs into you again she'd like to do it as friends."

"That's... Good..." He supposed it was good, Bruce didn't fully know how to process the whole situation yet. He glanced at Solerah and frowned when he saw her smirking at him.

"What?"

"Ohhh nothing~"

"It's clearly something with how you said that."

"It was a long trip taking Betty to the drop off zone, we talked. She told me stories. Stories about a particular scientist."

Bruce knitted his eyebrows together. "What did she say?"

Solerah giggled opting to shake her head and begin to leave.

"What-what did she say?!"

"Oh look at the time~ I've got work!"

Solerah grinned as she walked towards the door, leaving him in a fit of giggles.

"Solerah!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WHAT IS THIS?! 2 chapters in one day?!?! I just got so excited so I'm releasing this mini teaser chapter. Big things are gonna go down.

"Here's a chemical compound from AIM I need you to break down. This needs to have your full priority."

Bruce nodded, taking the folder from Alfred. He moved aside his personal work, closing his data journals and making space. He honestly wanted this to go as quick as possible, he still felt awkward about the last hulk out that injured Alfred even if it did happen a few weeks ago.

Clearly today wasn't his day as Alfred didn't leave, forcing Bruce to make eye contact with him to see what he wanted.

"I'm assigning you an important mission."

Bruce felt his blood run cold and his stomach churn painfully, they had promised they wouldn't use him for the other guy but Bruce was always waiting for the day that promise would be broken.

"I don't do field work." He spoke calmly, not letting it show how nervous he was.

Alfred shook his head no. "Not field work. I need you to promise me you'll look after Solerah."

Bruce's face contorted with confusion. "I-Okay?"

"I'm being deadly serious Doctor Banner. In some ways she is so wise but in other ways, she's extremely naive. I need you to promise me you'll take care of her, I've never seen her latch onto anyone the way she has with you. She trusts you. I need to trust you to protect her and keep her happy."

"I promise..." Bruce's face turned serious. "What are you going to do?"

"That'll be all doctor. Break down that compound as quick as you can." With that Alfred turned and left the room.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shortish chapter but I've been so busy with studying for my exams and I really wanted to get SOMETHING out XD I hope you enjoy it never the less!

Bruce spent the next few days breaking down the chemical compound he was given as he mulled over Alfred's words. He wondered if he should tell Solerah, but at the same time with the seriousness of Alfred's tone he probably shouldn't. He peered over at her, doing some work on her laptop. Bruce didn't even realise when but she had mostly integrated herself into his space entirely. She had her own space and her own set up.

He shook his heads of any more unpleasant thoughts and tried to continue working. Instead of thinking of Alfred his thoughts drifted to his last conversation with Betty, one thing had been nagging at him and just wouldn't leave his mind.

"Do you think I'm passionate?" Bruce spoke up, deciding to finally voice his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Solerah hummed in acknowledgement as she looked up from her laptop. "Why do you ask?" She raised a brow in confusion.

"When Betty-"

She cringed.

"What?"

"Forgive me but she's not exactly my favourite subject Bruce." She grinned awkwardly, sure she made up with her and Betty WAS lovely. But still. Her Bruce. Not Betty's. Hers.

"Well we talked before she left and do you think I'm passionate?" He looked at her with an imploring look which made her break away from her childish thoughts.

"Uhhhh ........ I think you're intense?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" His face scrunched up awkwardly. 

"I mean I think you're so logical you don't really see a point in things considered 'passionate' like being spontaneous or something."

"I can be spontaneous...." He knitted his eyebrows together and if Solerah didn't know any better she would almost say he was pouting.

"You wrote an itinerary for our first date Bruce." She nervously fiddled with her hands.

"So I'm boring?" Bruce visibly deflated.

"It's not a bad thing Bruce... I like that you're so organised!" She smiled assuringly, moving out of her chair and resting a hand on his shoulder.

Bruce continued to frown seemingly unaffected by her words until he suddenly stood suddenly and scooped her off the ground causing her to let out a surprised squeal and grab his shoulders in shock.

"Bruce?!"

"I can be spontaneous."

He grinned slyly at her, carrying her towards the nearest bench. She held onto him tightly as he used one arm to sweep across the surface and knock everything to the ground before placing her on it instead, hands moving to rest on her waist. "Ohh!"

He stopped almost like he was having an after thought. "Is-is this okay?"

"Don't stop now!" She breathed, probably sounding a little too excited. She felt her heart pounding in her chest.

"I-I don't know how far I can take this." She felt him nervously tighten his grip. 

She smiled sweetly, raising her hands to cup his cheeks. "Let's find out." She pulled him forward into a kiss.

l-l

Solerah sat with cheeks flushed as she panted slightly. One of her braids had come loose.

"I take it back." She breathed as she gazed at him, her pupils were dilated. He appeared to be in similar condition.

Bruce looked back at her with a slight confused look but he couldn't stop grinning.

"You're passionate." She grinned sly as Bruce gave her what she could only describe as a proud male grin. They peered over at the floor, seeing note books scattered and something that had evidently broken from the shards of glass that were laying haphazardly on the ground.

"That stuff was important..." Bruce mumbled out. His research for that chemical compound was on that table.

"Did you know that was important when you knocked it over?"

"Yeah..."

"Well that makes it even more romantic!"

Suddenly Bruce couldn't seem to care about the compound.


	21. Chapter 21

****"Good morning Daniel!" Solerah chirped happily as she saw him passing her

"Oh! Hey..." Daniel responded, trying to smile. Solerah frowned and tilted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh god, you don't know. I can't be the one to tell you. I'm-I'm sorry agent!"

And just like that he ran past her leaving Solerah to look at his back in confusion.

"Tell me what...?"

She made her way through the base and discovered the same thing kept happening. People wouldn't look her in the eye, they'd run past her or they'd quickly excuse themselves.

"What is happening?" Solerah questioned as the seventh person she tried to talk to left her.

"Agent Red Wing!" She called out as she caught up to the high ranked agent. "What is going on? Why is everyone avoiding me?"

"Agent Wild Star. I need you to remain calm and come with me."

"Okaaay? What-what's happening?"

"Just come with me."

Solerah's stomach churned painfully. Something was wrong and not knowing was killing her. She followed him up to the medical bay, the heavy silence between them was making her uneasy but she couldn't bring herself to ask any further questions.

They entered the medical bay and she saw a small crowd of agents and a doctor. They all turned to face her when they entered the room.

"I-I'm so sorry. Director Redgrave, he's dead." The doctor said, sadness laced in his tone.

"what?" Solerah's eyes widened in shock as she moved forward, pushing her way past the small crowd. "No." Her eyes welled up with tears. "No no no no." She looked at his body on the bed, eyes closed and covered in blood. "This can't be happening..." She reached out and touched his cheek, flinching back at how cold it was.

"ALFIE!!!!" Tears streamed down her face as collapsed herself onto his chest, clutching his shirt. "Nononono please A-Alfie no don't leave me!! ALFIE!!!" Her body raked with sobs as she cried. The agents around her looked away, with pained faces.

The doctor carefully approached her and tried to gently pull her backwards. "I'm sorry."

"NO!" She screamed as she shoved the doctor away from her a little too roughly causing him to fall backwards as she went back to clinging to Alfred's body. "This isn't real. Please please this isn't real!" She knew she was overreacting, she knew that doctor was only trying to console her and she knew she was only clinging to a cold dead corpse but she couldn't bring herself to do anything else.

"What am I going to do without you Alfie I need you..."

She felt as though a thousand daggers were painfully twisting into her stomach.

"Wild Star..." Agent Red Wing approached her. "He's gone."

She took in several deep breaths and slowly raised herself of his body, taking in his form. She bent down one last time and placed her forehead against his, taking his hand in hers.

"Alfie... Shul parel moihim. Ar jaruk noisin vaati... Untetra ritray vrai, cormeum."

She stood up, took a deep shuttering breath and turned. "Excuse me." She nodded to everyone in the room and walked out. She was able to maintain a mostly calm exterior as she walked past people, some gave her knowing looks at her face and others looked confused as to why she was so upset. She ignored everyone as she made her way to her room.

She collapsed on her bed, she felt like a broken doll. She felt empty and hollow, like the only thing left inside of her was pain. She didn't know how to respond so she just laid on her bed.

\---------------

After Bruce was told about Alfred's death he spent the next 2 days trying to coax Solerah out of her room, on the third day he finally asked to be given a keycard to get into her room.

"Solerah I'm coming in." He called out softly as he let himself in. He deep a deep breath and made his way over to her, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Solerah?"

"Leave me alone." Her voice cracked, she sounded lifeless.

"I know you're hurt right now but Alfred wouldn't want you to be like this, have you even left to eat?" He nervously examined her, her cheeks looked slightly hollow. "You can't stay in here forever."

"Watch me..."

"Solerah come on." Bruce grasped onto her shoulder and she wretched away from him, sitting up violently.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Solerah, its okay, I'm here for you now, you need to stop this." He tried reaching for her again but she smacked his hand away.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Solerah I know how you feel. Let's just calm down and talk about this okay? We can even go get some ice cream. What you're doing isn't healthy."

"HOW DO YOU POSSIBLY KNOW WHAT I'M FEELING! ALFIE WAS MY FAMILY! WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?"

Bruce grabbed her shoulders as she tried to hit him.

"Because my mother died!"

Solerah stopped her assault and looked up at him, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of her tears.

"When I was a child my father killed my mother."

"Oh... Bruce..."

"Trust me Solerah I know how you feel. I shut myself off and I turned everyone away."

Bruce pulled Solerah close, tucking her into his chest and clutching her almost painfully tight.

"Facts and figures I'm good at, feelings and people not so much and that's because I isolated myself. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you end up how I did. Let me help you."

"Bruce... I wasn't there to save him. I feel like I ruin everything I touch and I don't want to ruin you."

"You can't ruin what's already broken."

"Maybe we're both too broken..."

"I would of agreed with you before I came to C.O.D.E.X but then something changed my opinion."

"What...?"

"You."

She was silent for a moment, before she finally held him back, tightly wrapping her arms around his stomach and cried into his chest. She screamed and wailed and sobbed and Bruce sat with her the entire time, holding her and stroking her hair and just try to whisper reassuring words to her.

After who knows how long she spent crying she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Bruce...?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you said you barely knew anything about me?"

"Yes..." Bruce nodded and Solerah loosened her death grip around his waist and settled for clutching his shirt.

"I came from a very peaceful planet. It was a paradise really, but we were so stupid, so naive. I discovered something terrible one day and it changed me, so I left my home. I traveled across the stars and all over space. I did all sorts of stupid things because I was young and dumb.

I eventually became a bounty hunter. I... Grew to love the thrill, I seeked out the excitement and adventure. I learned how to fight and I became good at it. Really good at it. I use to be the best Bruce.

I met all sorts of people, some bad, some good, some indifferent. I made a lot of really good friends and a few powerful enemies but I never stayed in one place for too long. Never had a reason too.

I eventually joined a group of a lot of unsavoury people, I didn't even like them all that much but they provided me with what I wanted. More and more extreme bounties. I... I became someone I never intended to be... Someone bad. That's why I stayed on Earth. I left that life behind and never looked back."

"The past is the past Solerah. It doesn't matter who you were all I care about is who you are now." Bruce tried to console her, he was really just trying to absorb everything she was telling him.

She shook her head no as she smiled sadly.

"The reason I came to Earth in the first place was a bounty. I was chasing a dangerous being called a Skrull. I chased him all the way to this planet. Humans found us. RUPTURE found us. Skrull are an infiltration race. They can transform into anyone and apparently they had been infiltrating Earth for a long time. I still don't exactly know if they are here, I never really followed it up."

She let out a dry laugh.

"The humans must of known about Skrulls at the time because they shot him. Killed him on the spot. I won't say I wasn't glad that he died, he probably deserved it. Except I was stuck, I couldn't do anything. The Skrull had used a weapon that weakened me. My skin is very thick and dense, not a lot can cut me, sure I get hurt but it takes something strong to pierce my skin. Somehow the Skrull got the knowledge and access to the one thing that can really do damage to me. It burned me, cut me, I couldn't move, l felt too weak and RUPTURE took advantage of that.

They took me and the Skrull and they locked me up. I don't know how long, it was all very hazy but eventually they came back. Took me away again and the next thing I knew I was strapped to a table. I looked over and saw the Skrull was on one next to me. Or what was left of the Skrull. I was FREAKING out! It reminded me so much of that terrible thing that happened to me in the past. I wanted to escape, run, move, ANYTHING! But... I couldn't. I thought they would do the same too me."

She paused as she swallowed, memories flashing through her mind.

_**Please no! Not again!** _

"They made surgical tools that could cut me."

_**LET ME GO!** _

"I didn't understand English at the time, I had no idea what was happening. I was awake, the whole time. I felt the pain of what they were doing the whole time."

_**What are you doing to me? STOP!** _

"And then it was over. I had this implant."

She waved her wrist at him but when she moved to drop her arm Bruce grabbed it. He studied the small diamond imbedded in her wrist.

"I don't know how they did it but this implant contains Skrull DNA. It gave me their ability to understand different languages and shapeshift. I can't turn into any human I want like Skrulls can. From what I can gather I can only turn into what I would look like if I were that species. It was so weird at first, being in a weak human body and loosing all my own strength and abilities. This body that can so easily be hurt. I'll never forget the first time I bled red instead of blue. It was so strange."

She pulled her hand away from Bruce.

"Then came the collar."

"The collar?" Bruce knitted his brows together with concern.

"Control collar. Sometimes I can still feel it buried in the back of my neck. I became their weapon. Their tool. I was aware of every single thing I did. I was screaming in my head to stop but I couldn't! I stole. I spied. I killed... So much... Eventually I was on a mission to track someone down and bring him back to RUPTURE. We fought savagely. He was like an animal but so was l back then. He even growled at me so I hissed back heh. It was strange, he could cut me. I hadn't known a metal on Earth that could.

During our fight he broke the collar. I was finally me again. He let me travel with him. That was my life for awhile. We just traveled town to town picking up odd jobs and running away from our pasts. One day he disappeared and I was alone again... Running from RUPTURE on my own.

I thought I was going to be captured again but then Alfie found me and I've been with C.O.D.E.X every since. Now that Alfie is... Dead... You're the only one who knows this story."

Solerah bust into sobs and anything else she said was incoherent as she covered her face. She and Bruce spent the rest of the night in silence. Solerah just trembling and crying and Bruce sat holding her and thinking about everything she had told him. He decided then and there he would never let her be alone ever again. He would always be there for her.

 


	22. Chapter 22

Solerah fumbled around Alfred's office. She took it upon her self to handle a lot of Alfred's jobs while his funeral was being organised and a new director needed to be chosen. Solerah was officially now the head of C.O.D.E.X but she didn't want that. She took up responsibility of the organisation just until someone else could be chosen. It was a hard job and under any other circumstance she'd never be bothered to do it.

A soft knock on the door broke her thoughts.

"Come in." She smoothed out her stiff pencil skirt after she stood.

"D-Director Redgrave?"

"Don't call me that." Her voice was harsh and caused the agent to jump slightly.

"Sorry! Uh, Miss Redgrave. I have a package for you."

Oh fun, more work.

"Thank you agent." She met him half way across the room and took the box.

"Good day Miss Redgrave." The agent gave a salute and left.

Ugh, why did she choose to take his name again? Every time she heard it it was like a slap across the face.

She put the box on the desk and worked to quickly finish a report before she opened it. After about 10 minutes she heard another knock to the door and sighed.

"Come in."

How did Alfie deal with this every day?

"Hey Sol."

Bruce came in carefully carrying a tray.

"Don't you think it's funny that now I'm the one bringing you lunch?"

"I guess..."

Bruce forced a laugh, looking at her. He wanted to frown at her blank stare but kept a smile on his face. He was trying to hard to be positive for her. He was cracking jokes and carrying conversations she would otherwise be leading and he was just plain trying. He missed her laugh, he missed the way she would sing words and he even missed the way she use to have her hair up in pigtails or braids. Now it was swept back behind her ears and she was wearing dull colours and she was just different now but he needed to be strong for her, so he tried to encourage whatever she changed about herself.

"I-l like your glasses." He said as he put the tray on the desk and sat in the free chair. "They make you look cute." He could feel a small blush across his cheeks. He had never seen her with glasses on and the red frames perched on her nose suited her. He hoped the compliment would make her smile again.

"I'm suppose to wear them for work. I hate it but Alfie always gets mad when I don't work and wear them." Solerah's sentence dissolved into shakey sobs.

Damn it

Bruce quickly moved to stand, so he could hug her but Solerah raised her hands.

"No-no! I'm fine! I need to work! I'm okay." She removed her glasses and rubbed viciously at her eyes.

"Eat something. Please?"

Now he knew how she felt whenever she tried to force him to eat.

Solerah picked up a sandwich triangle and nibbled on it.

"So I was thinking maybe we could go on a date tonight? Go into town or even just sit in the skydeck and watch the stars?"

"No thanks, I've got work." Solerah pulled the box in front of her and started picking at the tape.

"Solerah you need to take a break."

"I'm doing that now." She brushed him off with her comment.

"You know that's not what I meant." He frowned and bit the inside of his cheek so that he wouldn't make an angry comment.

"What do you want from me Bruce? I have work to do. I know what you're doing. You hate going out. I don't need your pity." 

"I'm not pitying you Solerah I'm trying to help you." Bruce clenched his jaw tight, trying to keep his voice level.

"I don't want this kind of help." Solerah was still picking at the tape, tearing it from the box.

"I don't think you know what you need right now."

"And I suppose you do?" She finally looked up at him and raised her brow.

"You said you would let me help you."

"I don't need you to baby me Bruce. I am MUCH older then you I can take care of myself."

"Well you're not acting like it!" Bruce clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. Solerah didn't even react to that and he didn't know why it made him so angry. Ever since Alfred died if she wasn't crying her only expression was a blank gaze.

She just watched him and shrugged, going back to the box she was opening.

"Fine." Bruce sighed as he stood. "Fine I'll leave you alone for now." He walked to the door but stopped mid way through opening the door as he heard Solerah let out a soft gasp.

"Alfie..."

He turned back and looked at her.  
"Bruce..." She held up her arms almost pathetically so he quickly crossed the room, walking around the desk to wrap his arms around her, he felt the wheels on her chair drag as he pulled her close.

"Alfie knew he was going to die..." She looked up at Bruce, tears in her eyes. "This is too important. He'd never... He prepared..." She reached into the box and pulled out a black and white photograph. She handed it to Bruce to see.

It was her, another man and Alfred, only Alfred was young.

"That was Stanley. Alfie loves that photo more then anything."

"Who was Stanley?" Bruce implored, he was happy she was finally talking instead of crying.

"Alfie's boyfriend."

"O-oh?"

"He killed himself because people didn't like that they were together."

"Oh..." That made sense, Bruce supposed, especially for that time.

"Alfie loved Stanley so much. He was never the same after he found Stanley dead. Alfie use to be so happy but after that, he became cranky and serious." Solerah wondered if she'd become cranky and serious now? She didn't really feel like being happy anymore.

Solerah took a deep breath and took the photo back, she put it back in the box with the other things that Alfred had left her. She couldn't go through it now. "Bruce thank you for being there for me." She knew how hard this must of been for Bruce, she had been in the same place after Stanley died, she tried so hard for Alfie to make him better.

"I need to go on a mission now. I think I'm going to be okay. I'll get through this." She smiled at Bruce and he felt a wave of relief crash over him when she did. He smiled at her in return and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, I'll be in the lab then. You'll come see me if you need me right?"

"Yep. I promise." She smiled as she waved Bruce out the door.

When he was gone her smile melted away as a hard look appeared on her face.

She closed the laptop and picked up the box, leaving the office and returning to her room.  
There was a reason she told Bruce her past.  
She opened her closet and tore out all the clothes hangers and cleared away her shoes, she opened a hidden panel and pulled out a trunk.

She needed to know if he accepted her.  
She opened the trunk and quickly shed herself of the work clothes she was in and shifted to her true form.

She took out a battle leotard and slipped it on. She then reached for a heavy red jacket and pulled it on.

"It's been a long time..."

She ran her thumb gently over the sharp dagger she pulled out, before clipping it into a pouch on the waist of her suit.

She reached again into the trunk and pulled out a mechanic device, it was the size of a pen with pincher like claws around a bright red lit barrel. It was a small Pocket Dimension Storage Vial. She had stolen on her travels as a bounty hunter. It was exactly what it sounded like. It contained a small pocket dimension and let you to store things inside of it. She sighed and switched it on aiming at the box Alfie had left for her, the red light shined and a small laser came out and shot the box causing it to dematerialise and disappear into the vial.

"Bruce... You said you accepted me, you said you still wanted to be with me after I told you my past. I only hope you meant it..." She said softly as she put the pocket dimension storage vial in her pouch. She took a deep breath and raised her hands trying to feel her power churn inside her blood. She hadn't used it in years, she hoped she wouldn't be too rusty...

\--------------------

"Doctor Banner!" A man called out as he entered Bruce's lab.

Bruce looked up slightly nervous at the sudden intrusion. "Can I help you?" He frowned.

"I'm agent Red Wing. I need you to come with me. I'll explain on the way."

"Wh-"

"Doctor Banner if you don't want Solerah to come to harm you need to come with me now." 

There was an urgency in the man's voice that Bruce couldn't dismiss so he wearily stood and followed the man, he almost had to jog to keep pace with the man.

"Before Director Redgrave passed I was given explicit instructions in case of several scenarios. One of the scenarios has happened and it requires your assistance."

Bruce knitted his eyebrows together. "Okay?"

They both entered an elevator and Bruce was surprised to see they were heading to the upper surface of the base.

"We have been watching and fighting RUPTURE for decades but Director Redgrave had finally decided to personally take out the head of the organisation, he knew the risks. He knew that if he did he would more then likely loose his life. RUPTURE should fall apart now. There will be some loyal stragglers but it will not survive."

"What does that have to do with Solerah?" 

They left the elevator and Bruce was startled to find that Agent Red Wing was ushering him into a small truck.

"The reason Director Redgrave had finally decided to take out RUPTURE is because among other things they have developed a weapon with the ability to kill Agent Wild Star."

Bruce's eyes widened.

"Agent Wild Star has left the base and her tracker has been removed."

"Solerah no..."

What had she done?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: ahhhh I don't know how to describe this? Open slightly graphic surgery? As always it'll be marking it between some ************ if you want to skip it and I'll describe what happened in minor detail

Bruce's fingers drummed violently against the car door. "Can't we get there any faster!?" He snapped at the man driving.

"This is as fast as we can go Doctor Banner calm down, we don't want any green mishaps."

"How can you expect me to be calm?!"

"I expect you doctor Banner, to keep a level head. I would of been fine doing this mission myself but I couldn't go against Director Redgrave's last order." Agent Red Wing's tone was clipped. He personally wasn't happy having to bring the volatile doctor with no field experience.

Bruce took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. He could feel the hulk stirring beneath his skin, just waiting for the chance to break loose and it was giving him a headache.

"So tell me about this mission then."

"Director Redgrave wrote down that he had an emergency plan in case Wild Star decided go after RUPTURE after his death. There is a substance, a type of metal similar to Vibranium and Adamantium. It's called Auroniam. Whatever the metal is, it came to earth with her. It seems RUPTURE has been recreating and experimenting with the substance."

Bruce thought back to her her telling him about her past, how she said the Skrull she was hunting had a weapon that could hurt her, how she said that RUPTURE had made tools to cut her.

"If you were not already aware Agent Wild Star was one forcibly under the control of RUPTURE. She was their best weapon for years. What would you do if your greatest weapon fell into the hands of your enemy and you couldn't get it back?" Agent Red Wing explained as he drove off road, the truck was bumping violently but Bruce couldn't care less.

"Destroy it..."

"Exactly. Sources say they've invented some kind of bullet made of concentrated auroniam. She can't even take it when it touches her skin, I can only imagine what it would do inside of her system."

Agent Red Wing parked the truck outside a small old shack hidden among the trees. Bruce quickly followed him inside and he blinked in surprise as he saw a small jet. Normally he wouldn't step one foot in such a confined and dangerous vehicle but the only thing on his mind was getting Solerah back. Bruce clenched his fist, feeling his nails bite into his skin.

I'm coming Sol, hold on.

\--------------------

"Can't you just track the jet she took when she left?" Bruce asked, his mind was racing for ways he could locate her.

"She didn't take a jet."

"Then how are you so sure she's ahead of us? What if we passed her and she's fine?!"

Agent Red Wing sighed in frustration. He hated dealing with people sometimes.

"You know she's an alien right?" His tone was very sardonic.

"Yes."

"Read her file then. She is quite capable at crossing long distances without issue."

He reached for his tablet and one handedly typed into the device before handing it to Bruce. He frowned but took it, hoping that reading would pass the time quicker.

\----------------

Bruce jolted when he heard an explosion, he looked at the window seeing it came from a large facility. They landed and Bruce saw smoke and fire coming from the partially collapsed building. He leapt from the jet, falling to his knees when he landed but quickly stood and ran inside the building. If she was in there he was going to find her.

Agent Red Wing hopped out of the jet and landed more gracefully. He took off into the building in a different direction, Bruce could handle saving Solerah, he needed to back up all the information he could before this place was completely destroyed.

Bruce felt his heart race as he ran through the building. His senses were shifting into overdrive but he held onto the thought that Solerah NEEDED him so he had to stay himself. He was mortified at the amount of dead bodies he found littering the place, there was blood everywhere but at the same time he was glad none of them were Solerah. He had picked up a hand gun from one of the bodies, he hoped he wouldn't have to use it but he also wasn't stupid, he knew he needed some way to defend himself.

He kept running and running and he couldn't find her and time was running out! He let out a frustrated growl as he slammed his fist into the wall and tried to catch his breath. Bruce was so angry, he could feel the transformation happening, feel Hulk pounding against the walls of his mind. He tried so hard to fight it. He slammed his fists against the wall as they started to turn green. Slivers of green mixed into the hue of his eyes as he grunted.

"WE CAN ONLY SAVE HER IF I STAY ME!" He shouted as a last desperate attempt, and just like that... Everything stopped. He was still angry but he was himself. Shock overcame him as all signs of turning receded. He was dumbfounded as he stood there until he heard a deep growl in the back of his mind which kicked him into high gear again.

"We have to work together if we're gonna find her. Come on." Bruce tried pleading with his other half. "You have better senses then me. You can find her right?" Bruce never forgot the embarrassing scene he watched on that security footage when he first met Solerah as Hulk. He still mentally cringes when he thinks about how the other guy smelled her and licked her. "Help me find her." He felt himself take off again, he didn't know how but he knew the other guy was pushing him in the direction she was in.

He finally came to a metal door and yanked it open, breaking the hinges right off and taking the door from its frame. His heart almost stopped when he saw her in her true form on the ground.

"No no no no no no no!"

Was all he was able to say as he skidded down beside her. He quickly checked her over. Bruce calmed down a fraction when he saw she was breathing, even if it was shakey uneven breathes. Her eyes were closed and she was softly panting. He looked at her stomach and panic struck him when he saw a bullet wound. He quickly looked around the room, scanning for something that could save her.

They seemed to be in some kind of medical room, judging by the fact it had metal tables with straps it was probably for experimentation. He spotted a bench with surgical tools and quickly stood, stepping over the body of the man who bruce assumed shot her by the gun beside him and reached the bench. He snatched a pair of forceps of the bench and quickly returned to Solerah.

***************************

Bruce gently pushed Solerah onto her back, he took a deep breath to calm his already frayed nerves. With a steady hand he delicately worked the forceps into the open wound. He rested his other hand on her shoulder when she cried in pain and started flinching. He finally felt the bullet and applied pressure to the forceps, squeezing the handle and carefully retracting his hand managing to pull the bullet out.

*********************

(Bruce took the bullet out with the forceps)

He threw the forceps aside and checked her wound, he felt relief crash over him when he saw the injury start to heal itself. Solerah's eyes shot open as she jolted forward suddenly feeling herself throw up blood. Her mind felt so fuzzy and she didn't have a clue what was happening.

She weakly groaned, her throat was burning from the vomit and everything was blurry. She only just registered crying as she was pulled into someone's grip. She tried to turn her head to see but whoever it was, was making it hard to move with their death grip on her waist. She managed to shift enough to side face... Bruce...? "Bruce... Why are you crying?" She had never seen him cry before so it was even more nerve wracking to see him broken down and sobbing. "Please don't be sad B-mmmph!"

She still hadn't a clue what was happening but Bruce was kissing her. Which kind of shocked her more awake. It was very rare that Bruce kissed her with such vigour. For the most part he still shied away from a lot of contact, keeping kisses chaste and at a minimum. But now he seemed to be clinging to her for dear life, pressing kiss after kiss to her lips and face.

"We're gonna be alright. Everything is gonna be alright. I've got you. I've got you..." Bruce didn't know if he was reassuring Solerah or himself.

She blinked, carefully clutching onto his shirt, still feeling mostly woozy. "Did that taste gross? I did just throw up." She giggled slightly, it still hurt to speak. She raised her hand and tried to wipe the tears from his face. He leaned his face into her hand and laughed. "I love you so much." Bruce said as his breathing began to calm down. Solerah was about to respond when suddenly they heard a loud bang.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is NOT chapter sorry! But it's Solerah's file that Bruce was given last chapter. It's basically what I originally wrote up as her character stats and what not. I tried to make her a well rounded character with good strengths and weaknesses. Feel free to comment if I've come up with something to overpowered or you just have some input!

Solerah 'Wild Star' Redgrave

Appearance:

Wild Star is an alien, in her true appearance she is 8 feet tall, has grey skin, pale pink eyes and long ringlet white hair.

She can shift into a human appearance, which is 5'4, Caucasian, blue eyes with short choppy light brown hair.

Physiology:

Wild Star has inhuman strength, stamina, reflexes, metabolism, durability and speed that are far superior to a human being. Over time she can heal a normally fatal injury with little to no trouble as well as an accelerated healing rate for minor injuries.

Wildstar's species have extremely thick and dense skin and muscle making it impossible for bullets or knives to harm her and having a general resistance to pain. This also gives her immunity to intense cold and heat.

Wildstar has a nictitating membrane also known as the third eyelid allowing her to see underwater and during things like wind and sand or snow storms. She can store air in her lugs allowing her to survive without breathing for long periods of time.

Wild Star's species have an incredibly long life span and she herself is several hundreds of years old.

Weaknesses:

The metal Auroniam completely weakens her, it has been known to cut her skin if crafted into a blade and will otherwise leave her powerless and burned if it touches her skin.

Because of her resistance to pain she doesn't always realise when her body is damaged and can end up severely injuring herself.

Due to her weight in her true form she'll have a habit of accidentally breaking a lot of earth made objects.   
While not a traditional weakness she'll choose to go against her better judgement if it means helping someone. She'll give someone the benefit of the doubt and be too trusting.

When in her human form she is entirely that. A regular human with all their weaknesses.

Unique Abilities:

She is skilled at fighting with various weaponry and especially adept in hand to hand combat.

Wild Star has many skills based around bounty hunting, thieving and tactical skills.

She was has the ability to assimilate languages and shapeshift into other species although this is not a natural ability and is due to her Skrull DNA implant.  


While not a traditional ability Solerah uses her bright and bubbly personality to her advantage and will more often than not play dumb knowing people underestimate her.

She is musically gifted and has displayed having a phenomenal singing voice.

Wild Star's species have the unique ability to harness and control a substance known as 'Seren' which is a form of energy manipulation and construct creation.  
She can use it in the form of attacking via beams and use it to create shields, walking platforms or blades made of seren.

She can also focus it to her feet, creating a rail for her to skate along at high speeds.

Her strongest attack is releasing a powerful burst akin to an explosion however using it nearly completely drains her energy and will leave her completely weak.  
Extensive use of her powers over a long period of time could completely deplete her energy reserves and her Serens power be limited on the amount energy and strength she has.

If her hands or feet are bound or injured she can not create seren constructs as it is entirely dependent on making movements and gestures.


	25. Chapter 25

Solerah looked in the direction of the noise. She grunted slightly as she sat up. "We really need to get out of here."

"Can you walk?" Bruce asked as he looked at the wound, it was healing slowly but she was still bleeding far to much for his liking.

Solerah tried to stand but let out a sharp gasp of pain and curled into herself. "I-I'm sorry Bruce I don't think I can." Her voice was laced with guilt and Bruce shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. You almost died."

They heard another bang and Bruce could of sworn it sounded like it came from the outside. Bruce closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This place was falling apart and he needed to get Solerah out safely. He didn't want to but the only way he could see them getting out was with the other guy.

He opened his eyes which were now a bright green and let himself transform.

The Hulk ran through the building with Solerah safe in his arms, he was able to get through the collapsing building with ease, he rammed a wall with his shoulder and they were outside.

"DON'T MOVE!"

Hulk looked to the source of the voice and growled. Looking around the open forest he saw they were surrounded by heavily armoured trucks and men with guns. Hulk felt his rage rising. The men with guns were back!

Solerah, who was still weak and woozy peered up and recognised they were surrounded by the military. She was confused for a moment before she recognised General Ross from Bruce's extended file.

"FIRE!" General Ross exclaimed as large guns that were attached to the trucks went off. Hulk tightened his grip on Solerah and turned slightly, in an effort to protect her from the bullets. He was surprised to find however what was shot out were not bullets but some type of foam that when hit him expanded across his body. He quickly placed Solerah on the ground and tried to tear off the foam, grunting in frustration when it continued to expand over his fists.

"There's no escape this time Banner." General Ross said confidently as he walked closer to them. "We've been working on this tech for awhile. All those times you took us out, we've been studying your strength. You won't be able to smash your way out of this." He smirked as the foam completely expanded so that only his face remained visible.

"Hulk..." Solerah looked in horror as he tried to free himself of the foam, she held her stomach where the bullet wound was and tried to stand. She had to help! "Back off!" She screamed as she glared, taking small weak steps towards the man.

"And just what are you?" General Ross raised an eyebrow gazing at her with a scrutinised look, temporarily ignoring the struggling Hulk.

Solerah didn't answer him, straightening as best as she could. "Look buddy. See this building?" She gestured to the destroyed base. "I did that. I destroyed this base and killed everyone in there. I'm not apposed to killing you too." She threatened, eyes narrowing at the man.

"What I see." He said as he placed his hand on his rifle. "Is an injury to exploit." He butted her with the end of his gun in her stomach. Solerah screamed in anguish as she dropped to her knees and fell onto her side.

"Lets wrap this up. Take her too and have her questioned-"

General Ross was interrupted with a deafening roar, Ross' eyes widened as he saw the foam starting to split and break.

"Impossible! Shoot again!"

It was too late, the foam broke apart from the inside out and Hulk charged at the trucks. Men abandoned them as he grabbed the large funnel of the gun and snapped it off, throwing it at the other truck, causing more men to dive out of its way. He swatted General Ross who tried to gain a distance between them into a tree.

After letting out another snarl he turned and picked up Solerah, jumping away from them.

\--------------------------

Solerah looked up at Hulk curiously as he ran, wondering where he was taking them. Whenever she asked he didn't answer her so she resigned herself to just waiting for him to either stop or cool down. She looked up at the night sky and wondered what time it was, she was getting tired and she didn't know if it was from her her injury or the need to sleep. She guessed both. Her eyes started to droop but she was jolted awake at the sound of a freight train.

Hulk ran along side it, taking the door of one of the cargo carriages and forcing it open. Solerah let out a surprised cry at the sudden feeling of being lightly thrown. She braced herself as she rolled onto the floor. She looked up and saw Hulk transforming back to Bruce as he jumped into the carriage, fitting inside mid transformation. She sat up and scurried towards him, catching Bruce as he skid. She held him carefully, knowing he was usually disorientated after changing.

"BB? Honey are you okay?" She smiled in relief as he sat up, clinging to his shredded pants and looking around. "Solerah? Are you okay?!" Bruce reached out and touched her cheek, scanning her over to check for any new damage.

"I'm fine BB. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Where are we?" Bruce looked around at the cargo box they were in.

"I don't really know, Hulk was running for a long time before he threw us in here."

"What happened?" Bruce asked with a low serious voice.

"General Ross found you."

"General Ross?!" Bruce's eyes widened. "That's why Hulk ran, that's what happens. If Ross finds us, we run. That was how life was like before I joined C.O.D.E.X."

"So what happens now...?" Solerah asked nervously.

"You go back to C.O.D.E.X."

"What?! Bruce no, not without you!"

"I can't go back. Not now that the military knows where I am."

"Then I'll go with you!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Solerah!"

"Bruce!"

"I have to-"

"If you say protect me I'm going to punch you in the kidney." Solerah glared at him as Bruce heaved a sigh.

"This isn't a joke Solerah."

"Whose joking?"

"Solerah-"

"No Bruce. Listen to me. If you leave me you'll be miserable and I'll be miserable. Don't pretend for a second you're some great martyr. Oh poor Bruce, he left everything to protect them. No. You don't get to do that. If you leave me now THAT is what's going to hurt me. If you leave me now you'll be doing it because you're selfish and because you won't given give us a chance. So go if you want. Go."

She poured confidence and a fire into every word even though she was shaking on the inside. She narrowed her eyes when he wasn't responding more then just looking at her.

"It's now or never Banner."

He sighed. "You just can't make things easy can you?"

"Hey, it keeps you on your toes doesn't it?" She let herself smile, knowing she had won.

"One day I'm going to win an argument."

"Suuuure you are honey."

Bruce looked around at the cargo carriage they were in, trying to plan their next move.

"BB I'm exhausted, you're exhausted so can we just get some rest and figure it all out in the morning?" She tried coaxing him to rest instead of thinking.

Bruce's head was buzzing, all his senses were telling him to be on high alert but... He WAS exhausted as well and Solerah did just almost die. He looked at her blinking up at him, silently trying to convince him yes. He sighed and nodded, holding his arms out. Solerah smiled and crawled towards him, into his open arms as they both leaned down next to eachother, laying on the floor.

"Bruce...?"

"Hmm?"

"Promise me when I wake up you'll be here? Please don't leave me. You're all I have left."

Bruce was quiet, letting the weight of what she said sink in. He knew he'd have to choose his words wisely. "Solerah... From now on wherever I go, you go. We'll run as far as we can go." He nervously cleared his throat. "I mean, that is, for as long as you'll have me." He quickly added, worrying he sounded too bold. Solerah's heart swelled at his words. "You know for someone so smart, you sure can be stupid." She grinned, raising her head from his chest and craning her neck to place a kiss on his jaw, just under his chin. "I'm not going to leave you. Not ever." Bruce could feel his blush burning his face, he also felt something quell in his stomach. He felt truly happy for once. His grip tightened on her waist, avoiding her injury as he settled to get more comfortable, closing his eyes to try to let sleep overtake him.

"Bruce?"

"You're the one who said you were exhausted Sol. We aren't going to get any sleep if you keep talking." Bruce said just above a whisper.

"Untetra ritry vrai..." Solerah's voice was slow, she was falling asleep by the second. Bruce's eyes scrunched in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Back in there, you told me you loved me. You've never said that before and I didn't get a chance to say it back." 

Oh... Right, Bruce HAD said it, he had almost forgotten with everything that happened. He assumed she had told him the same in her own language and somehow that felt more special. "Yeah. Untetra reetrey vireye too." Bruce cringed at his attempted pronunciation but Solerah only smiled as she drifted off to sleep.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I've really been pumping out the chapters these last few days! It'll probably slow down after this! I got tafe to do! ^^' I WAS JUST SO EXCITED TO GET THIS SPECIFIC CHAPTER OUT!!! I HOPE YOU LOVE IT AS MUCH AS ME!!!

"People are staring at us..."

"Ignore them."

"But-"

"Just ignore them Sol. People stare but they don't ask questions."

Solerah hummed in discontent as they both continued to walk down the street in the early morning. There weren't a lot of people out this early but the ones who were, well they got to enjoy the sight of a half naked man in tattered pants and a giant woman with an unnatural colour scheme. Solerah was temporarily stuck in her true form, unable to change back until she fully healed and since she was hit with auroniam it was taking her a lot longer to heal.

"How many times have you had to do this that you're so use to this?"

"Enough."

Solerah decided to stop talking for now, hearing Bruce's grouchy attitude in his voice as they both walked down the street, looking for a motel. Not that she could blame him, Bruce had a lot to be mad about right now so she tried to be as accommodating as she could for him.

\------------------------

Bruce kept a straight face as the man stationed at the front desk of a cheap motel laughed in his face, he could smell the alcohol off the the mans breath. Bruce was trying to get a room as Solerah looked around the room curiously.

"What are you suppose to be?!"

"Costume party."

Bruce wanted to scowl at the drunken man but he held his tongue, it worked out better in the long run if anyone came asking questions.

"Six nights." Bruce waved the bill that Solerah had given him earlier at the deskman in an attempt to get him to stop laughing. He took the cash and turned around to grab them a room key.

"Did we get a room?" Solerah approached the counter, a bundle of pamphlets in hand.

"Whoa there! You are one tall glass of water." The deskman gave a low appreciative whistle as he looked at her up and down.

"Oh, um, I'm sure you're very sweet but-"

"She's taken." Bruce snatched the room key from the man with one hand and grabbed Solerah's with his other and turned away to walk down the corridor.

\-------------------------

"I'm sorry Bruce." Solerah said as she looked at Bruce with a slight pout, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Why?"

"We can't go anywhere until I'm healed."

Bruce's face softened and he sat down beside her, tilting sideways slightly towards her since she created a much larger dip in the bed where she sat then he did.

He placed his hand over the top of hers.

"Stop saying your sorry."

They sat in comfortable silence for the next few moments, enjoying the peace.

"Bruce?" Solerah broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Is it weird that I'm taller then you now?"

"A little." Bruce said with a sly grin causing Solerah to giggle.

"I like being shorter then you."

"Why?"

"Cause I always feel safe when you hug me."

A small dusting of pink tinted Bruce's cheeks as he smiled bashfully, at the risk of sounding ridiculous he felt very manly. He liked knowing he could make her feel safe, especially since she was more then capable of protecting herself.

Solerah shifted herself backwards and laid on the bed, tucking her legs in so she could fit properly. "I'm gonna nap." She said as she yawned. "Lots to regenerate." She said in a sleepy voice as she closed her eyes, grabbing a pillow to hug. Bruce smiled at her, picking up the sheet folded at the corner of the bed and placing it over her.

He sat down and flicked on the news channel as he counted out the money they had and  
started thinking about the situation and what to do and what supplies they would need to buy. He looked back over at Solerah when he heard her softly talking in her sleep. He heaved a sigh, resting his head in his hand. It was almost funny, he always told himself that he left Betty because he loved her too much to involve her in his life but when it came to Solerah, he just couldn't picture his life without her in it anymore.

Bruce knew whenever he fell in love he always fell hard and fell fast. That was another reason he stayed away from people when he was younger. Too busy studying, he didn't have time for love and whenever he did it never ended well for him. Bruce tried to figure out why things were so different with Solerah. Whatever it was he made a decision.

He was never going to let her go.

\---------------------

Bruce woke up with a start as he felt the mattress sink. Solerah was jumping on the bed and screaming something at him. He rubbed his eyes and groaned when he felt a sudden weight on him. He blinked the sleep from his eye and looked at Solerah, sitting on him in her human form.

"I'm fun sized again!" She smiled, bouncing on him.

"That's great Sol. Now get off me."

She frowned and rolled over. "You're not fun."

Bruce glanced at the small digital clock on his bedside table. "Because it's 2:49 in the morning."

"It's ALWAYS the right time for fun BB."

"I'm sure there is but for now it can wait til morning."

"Fiiiiiiine."

She let out a small squeal as Bruce suddenly shot his arms out and pulled her down, smirk on his face. "Go to sleep now." He weaved his arms around her, settling her comfortably on his chest. Solerah smiled and wrapped an arm under his neck, listening to the sound of his heart beat and letting that lull her to sleep. She was happy she was finally able to cuddle up to him and lay on him without worrying that she'd crush him in her sleep.

\--------------------

"Where are we going...?" Solerah whined as she yawned. "It's too early to be alive Bruce."

"It's important Solerah." Bruce rolled his eyes at her lighthearted as he lead her through the empty down, he had woken her up around 5:30 and she was exhausted.

"But I'm tiiired."

"You wouldn't be tired if you weren't awake at 3 in the morning jumping around."

"Ahhhhhhnnn." She let out another whining noise. "Can't you just tell me?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you Sol."

"I hate surprises..." She muttered.

"Well l hope you'll like this one."

She hissed under her breath at him. She knew she was being a teeny tiny bit childish but she tired! And she didn't appreciate being dragged out when there was no immediate danger.

They finally stopped and Solerah looked around and up at the large building they stood in front of. "Well so far this has been worth it." She announced sarcastically as she looked at the city hall.

"There is a little something called patience."

"Aww but that's why I have you. You got that for me."

"You know, before I met you, I was numb. After the bomb went off, after Harlem, after everything... I wanted to feel something, anything, guilt, sadness, shame. But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to feel anymore. Sure I had moments of happiness and obviously at times anger but it was always fleeting. But then when you came into my life those few years ago and I started to feel again. I started to care again." Bruce took her hand gingerly and smiled at her.

"Aww Bruce..." Solerah smiled back shyly as she clasped his hand. "What bought all this on?"

"You always put others first no matter how hard it is on you and I know that's who you are but if you can't take care of yourself at least let me do it for you... So what I'm saying is..." Still holding her hand Bruce bent down onto one knee, causing Solerah's eyes to widen, her mouth opened a little.

"Sol... You're the only good thing in this terrible world that I have. Will you marry me?"

"............. HELL YES!!!!"


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A teeny tiny chapter of fluff!

"Say it again."

"Mrs Banner."

"Again."

"Mrs Banner."

"Okay but say it one more time." 

"Mrs Banner."

"Hehehe again!"

"Will you ever get tired of hearing that?" Bruce asked as he quirked his brow, staring at Solerah with a grin.

"I don't knooooow~" Solerah sang. "Will you ever get tired of saying that?" She grinned slyly at him.

"Never."

"So say it again!"

"Mrs Banner." Bruce leaned over in his seat on the train and kissed her cheek. Solerah preened under his attention.

"So how long til we arrive?" Solerah asked as she looked out the window, seeing the world outside shift and go by.

"About 8 hours now."

"And why do we have to travel so far again?" She fidgeted, she didn't like the idea of sitting in a small compartment for so long.

"Because I used my real name to sign our marriage certificate and l have no doubts General Ross will find out."

Solerah frowned as Bruce had pulled a book from his bag.

She stayed quiet for awhile, gazing out the window as Bruce silently read.

"Do you think Alfie would be mad at me...?"

Bruce looked up from his book and saw Solerah's forlorn face. "Mad about what?"

"That I changed my name."

"Of course he wouldn't be mad at you Sol."

"I miss him Bruce..."

Bruce heard the sharp shutter in her voice and knew tears wouldn't be far behind.

"It's healthy to grieve."

"Well it hurts."

Bruce took her hand, rubbing the top of it with his thumb. "I'm here for you Sol. Take as long as you need to be upset. I'll be the strong one for you." Bruce hoped the tiny hint of nervousness didn't come through his voice. He still didn't exactly know how to handle something like this so he just said what he hoped she'd want to hear and try to do what he promised.

"Will you read to me?" She learned her head against his shoulder.

"It's one of my science books Sol, you don't like them."

"But I like hearing your voice BB." She blinked up at him and Bruce knew he'd never be able to refuse those doe like eyes so he opened his book again and started reading out loud. Solerah closed her eyes and let herself become surrounded by the gentle tones of his voice, eventually drifting off to sleep.

\---------------------------------

"Uh oh looks like we can't be on this train BB." Solerah said, reading through the ticket phamflet as Bruce looked up confused.

"Why?"

"Says here we can't take any radioactive material on board." She laughed, grinning at her own joke. Bruce's eyebrows slowly raised as his face deadpanned.

"No? Not funny? Okay wait I've got another one! Are you..." she paused as she quickly scanned the paper. "An infectious substance cause you've infected my heart." She made little finger guns and pretended to fire them.

"I'm going to the food cart." He started to get up, picking his shoulder bag up. "Ohhh come on that one was good! Hooooow aboooout.... Oh! Are you a flammable liquid because babe you're hot!" She reached for him as he walked away. "I'll be back soon."

"You're not fun!" She pouted as she sat back up and looked out the window, head pressed against the glass. Bruce returned around 5 minutes later holding a tea and a muffin. He shuffled his bag around the lower compartment as he moved to sit down and held the muffin in her line of vision, waving it slightly to entice her to take it. "This trip still has 4 more hours BB! I'm bored." She huffed out an over dramatic sigh as she nibbled on the muffin.

A moment of silence passed before Bruce spoke up. "Are you our boarding ticket because I need to make sure you're with me at all times?" She perked up and turned her head to see Bruce reading the do's and don't's list that she was reading earlier. "That was bad wasn't it? You took all the good ones." She let out a burst of giggles as she moved away from the window in favour of leaning against him. "Oh here's one. Are you oxidising materials? Because you've caused me to undergo a chemical reaction and lit a fire in my heart?" He said with the slightest hint of a grin. Sure that was only barely even a stretch of how oxidising materials worked but he reached his goal in making her smile. She craned her head to kiss his jaw. "I love you Bruce."


	28. Chapter 28

It had been roughly a month since Bruce and Solerah had started traveling. Solerah still kept an upbeat attitude, looking on the positive side of their uprooted lives and Bruce had to admit if he had to choose he liked a traveling companion, or maybe he just liked the fact it was Solerah with him. She had this uncanny ability to make everything less terrible.

He had been slightly worried, a concern at the back of his mind that traveling together could break their relationship. Logically speaking when you put two people in a new unknown environment you never know how they'll react, especially when that new environment is poorer then the previous one. As much as they were constantly with each other back at C.O.D.E.X. now there wasn't really a moment they were apart, Bruce had been worried if they spent ALL their time together, they'd get sick of the other. But then again he was also concerned she would realise she could do better then him and leave so he knew he had a lot of invalidated fears.

When they spoke about it one night Solerah had admitted to having similar fears, that Bruce would get sick of her or he would realise she was too annoying to stay with 24/7 but Bruce thought the very idea was ridiculous. Of course she could grate on his nerves sometimes but he's no picnic of a partner himself. They both had their good and bad traits and the point is they balanced each other out.

They were both walking on the edge of a long highway that seemed to stretch onwards forever. They hitchhiked when they could but didn't have much luck today. Bruce felt relief when he saw they were approaching a diner, he was looking forward to getting out of the hot sun.

"Okay time to choose names." Bruce had been imparting the ways and knowledge of being a fugitive to her as they had been traveling.

"Okay! I'll be Old Joe." She said proudly pointing to herself.

"You will not be Old Joe." Bruce deadpanned.

"But it's a good hobo name!"

"Stop calling us hobos Solerah."

She frowned. "Why can't I be Old Joe, you always pick the aliases."

"Because I pick believable aliases."

"Old Joe is believable!"

"Not for a young woman."

"I'm older then you!"

"Alright then you're too beautiful to have a name like that."

Whatever argument Solerah had prepared was lost as she grinned, looking down and waved her hand dismissively at him. "D'aaaw."

They entered the small diner, bell chiming to announce their presence. They sat down and ordered their food, letting themselves relax now that they were in the air conditioned building.

Bruce had pulled a small laptop from his duffle bag and booted it up.

"Whaaaa chu doin?" Solerah asked pointing a fry at the computer.

"I'm going to check if there's been any reports about us in the next towns police system. We should be able to stay a couple days if there isn't. We've traveled pretty far that we should be able to take a break."

"Well that would be nice." She smiled sincerely and Bruce could only smile back, not once had she complained about their traveling, about the fact that they've had to sleep outside or about the odd hours they've been forced to work into their sleeping schedule.

"What do you mean the phone isn't working?!" A woman said exaggeratedly with a huff.

"Exactly what I said." The man behind the counter said disinterested at her peril. "You're in the middle of nowhere, not a lot of luxuries out here."

The woman let out a sigh of frustration but did order a cold drink, sitting down at the table near Bruce and Solerah's holding her head in her hands.

Solerah spun around on her chair, placing her hands on the top of the chair.

"What's wrong?" She asked with concern.

"My tire blew out, I've got a spare but I don't know how to change it."

"Ohhh I'll help you!"

"Do you even know how to change a tire?" Bruce leaned forward, asking her.

"No but how hard can it be?!" Solerah grinned as she clapped her hands together.

\------------------

"You can do it honey! I believe in you!" Solerah called out from her seat as Bruce worked on changing the tire.

"I really do appreciate the help." The woman said as she smiled, looking guilty when she saw Bruce work.

"It's okay! He looks cranky but if I didn't offer to help he would of."

"How did you two meet?"

"Weeeeell I'm a scientist! He worked administration, the day after an awkward meeting he bought me cake and we've been together ever since!"

Anna made an aww noise as she smiled. "That's so sweet!"

"Tire is fixed." Bruce announced as he walked up to the two women, raising his baseball cap and wiping sweat from his forehead. Solerah handed him her iced coke which he gratefully accepted.

"Oh thank you so much! ..... Oh I never asked your names! My name is Anna."

"I'm David Bixby. This is my wife Lara." Bruce introduced after he had finished the coke, placing the empty glass on the table.

"Guess what David! Anna said she would drive us to the next town!"

Bruce blinked in surprise. "You don't have to-"

"Really it's the least I could do!" Anna insisted. "You saved me after all."

Bruce breathed in through his nose before nodding slowly. "We would appreciate the ride then." Bruce frowned internally, trying to push back his wary thoughts that this woman was a spy or setting them up.

\-------------

"Are you done?"

"Noooooo I have to say goodbye to it!!!" Solerah wailed as she ran her hands through his locks.

They had checked into a small motel and Bruce had told Solerah it was time to change up their appearances. Bruce announced he would be shaving his curls off as they were a very obvious identity marker. Bruce wanted to be annoyed at her behaviour but feeling her hands running along his skull felt too nice, it relaxed him more then he wanted to admit.

"I'll miss you." She let out a fake sob as she spoke into his curls, leaning her cheek on his head.


	29. Chapter 29

Bruce stared aimlessly at the ceiling, taking note of the various cracks and chipped paint and the dust that gathered around the blades of the ceiling fan. He let his mind wander while he was holding Solerah. His hand had slid up her shirt, feeling the warm contact of her soft skin while his fingers traced random patterns along her back. Solerah was comfortably snuggled into him with her eyes closed, she was awake though, they had both been awake for roughly an hour.

Since they couldn't have sex, they had since sought out other ways to be intimate with eachother and while they did push the boundaries of what they could and couldn't do for the most part they just fell into what was for lack of a better description long cuddle sessions. Going on the run they had these opportunities less and less so neither of them had any intention of moving any time soon.

"Tell me something from your childhood." Solerah spoke up. "Something happy." She added as a quick after thought, her warm breath tingled against Bruce's skin.

He inhaled deeply, Solerah's head rose and fell with his chest and tried to think of a happy memory. Bruce thought of his mother and a small smile gently replaced his scowl. "My mother use to love gardening. I remember her telling me it was the only place she felt free, the only thing she had complete control over. She use to sit me in the shade with a book while she worked on the garden. She was so happy she could help something grow and flourish and live." Bruce explained, Solerah smiled at the image his words conjured.

"She was so kind and giving and she loved life. I don't have a lot of good memories Sol but the ones I do all involve her." Bruce held onto her just a little bit tighter so she lifted her head and kissed him.

"Thank you." Solerah loved learning everything she could about Bruce. He was absolutely wonderful and everything about him enthralled her. Now maybe she would admit that she was probably biased but it was more likely that Bruce was just perfect. She treasured every piece of information he chose to share with her as she knew it was hard for him to talk about his past and feelings.

"What about you?"

"Hmm?" His question pulled her from her thoughts.

"Tell me a happy memory." He calmed down from his own memory and restarted tracing shapes on her back, feeling the contact of her skin easing his tensed state.

"I use to love playing in mud. I would dig dirt pits and then bring water to them. No body else seemed to share my affinity for the mud though." She giggled at her memory. "My brother would always find me covered from head to toe in mud. I was always running around exploring and going on what I had deemed adventures.”

Bruce smiled at the thought of her young self covered in mud and loving every moment of it. "Tell me about your home." He was still fascinated about the fact that she was an alien. He tried to imagine what an entire world filled with completely different life and a completely different ecosystem would even be like.

"Not much to tell I suppose. Earth is far more technologically advanced."

“Tell me anyway.” Bruce gently pushed.

“Our homes were made of great white rock. We were surrounded with water caverns and forest.”

“Why did you leave?” Bruce finally asked the question he’s been wanting to know since the day she confided in him about something terrible.

Solerah was quiet for a moment and Bruce was about to apologise for asking when she finally spoke.

“Women kept disappearing. No one knew why. It had been happening since before I was born. I was told if anyone tried to look for them, they’d disappear too. It wasn’t until my brothers Quatrill disappeared.”

“Quatrill?” Bruce interrupted in question.

“Umm.” She hummed in thought, trying to find a word to translate. “Oh! Soulmate!” She smiled as she felt him nod.

“My brothers Quatrill disappeared and he was absolutely devastated. I hated seeing him so sad, so I did what I was told never to do.”

“You went to look for her.” Bruce asked and Solerah nodded in confirmation.

——————

Young Solerah sat covered in blood and too afraid to move. Her eyes darted around the room she was thrown into. Her eyes widened when she saw Leerya, her brothers Quatrill. “Leerya!” She cried out and ran on all fours, collapsing into Leerya’s in a hug.

“Oh Solerah?!” She held her tight and there was sorrow in her voice. “Not you too.”

Solerah took note of leerya’s missing arm and sobbed harder.

“What happened?! What is this? What are those THINGS?!” Solerah’s brain was going a mile a minute.

The older woman spoke up. “Child, it was become clear that we are not alone.”

She turned to the elder, sniffing, trying to stop her crying to listen. “Wha-what do you mean not alone?”

“The inside of Nivael is hollow, home to these creatures. They have been harvesting us, all this time... We were their food.” There was a deep pain in the woman’s voice and Solerah choked out a sob. They were going to get eaten?! She wanted her brother...

——————

“We did not realise how powerful we were.” Solerah explained. She held up her hand. A fluid spark of pink energy flowing around it. She flicked her wrist and clenched her fist the pink energy shifted and swirled around her hand trailing along her arm and forming a curved blade, engulfing the length of her forearm to her fist.

“I was so afraid. I don’t know how long I was in there but when it was my... Turn... Somehow I formed this. It went straight through his neck. So I rallied the women, we carried out those who had no legs and we tried to escape. I was lucky. Half way through fighting my way out, my brother was fighting his way in. He formed and lead a rebellion to save me.” The blade disappeared into nothing and she wiped her eyes, making sure to catch any unshed tears.

“I don’t know what was wrong with me but after that I couldn’t go back to how I was. I just couldn’t. When the opportunity arose to leave Nivael I took it. I became a bounty hunter, you know the rest.” Solerah finished.

Bruce nodded, absorbing everything she had told him. “I’m glad you left.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “I’m glad you found your way to me.” He held her tighter and they fell back into a comfortable silence.

——————-—

“We’re almost there.” Bruce announced as he lightly tugged Solerah’s hand that was in his.

“You said that ages ago.” Solerah whined then yawned. She was exhausted, they had been traveling none stop and Bruce assured her they would be going to a safe place where they could rest for awhile and figure out a more solid plan.

“Trust me.” He simply stated, he was exhausted as well but he didn’t want to admit it. They walked down the dark street light lit path until finally Bruce walked them in onto someone’s front porch. He rang the doorbell and Solerah leaned against Bruce’s back closing her eyes.

Bruce had to ring the bell a few more times to get an answer and he didn’t blame them on not answering as it was well past midnight. Finally the door swung open and Solerah peeked past Bruce’s shoulder to see a tall man with brown hair and eyes.

His cranky face quickly turned into one of shock then utter joy.

“Doc?!” He grinned and pulled Bruce into a hug. Bruce awkwardly patted his back and pulled away. He stood to the side and allowed Solerah to come into the man’s view.

“Sol, this is Rick Jones. My best friend.”


	30. Chapter 30

“I hope this’ll be okay Doc.” Rick said as he gave a pillow and blanket to Bruce after directing them to the couch. “You did show up on short notice.” He grinned.

“It’s great, thanks.” Bruce nodded as he sat down and began taking his shoes off. “This is so exciting.” Solerah whisper shouted. “I cannot wait to get to know you properly!” She almost squealed but was quickly shushed. Rick had said his wife Marlo was sleeping and it was their funeral if they woke her up.

“You’re excited? I can’t wait to properly meet the girl Bruce got hitched too.” Rick smiled and Solerah couldn’t help but notice how charismatic his smile was. She liked this Rick. She wiggled out of her shoes, almost tripping when she was toeing at her foot.

Rick made his way to the door and held his fingers over the light switch. “Goodnight.” He flicked it off after seeing both Bruce and Solerah comfortably settled on the couch. “Goodnight.” It was a tight fit but Solerah solved that problem by just laying on Bruce and he was more then okay with that. Her weight on him was a comfort to him anyway. He vaguely remembered reading in one of his books that having weight on you during sleep helps calm anxiety and judging from how good he felt it seemed to be effective.

It took Bruce awhile to get use to sleeping with a bedmate, especially because Solerah was a very active sleeper. Always moving, shifting and she even talked in her sleep sometimes. Bruce found she’d stop if he held onto her though. Solerah also had to get use to not stealing the blankets and cocooning herself into them like she use to do.

—————

Bruce slowly roused awake the next morning, he felt a slight panic run through him when he couldn’t see Solerah but then remembered where he was and heard the chime of her laughter from another room. He stood and held his back crack as he stretched before walking towards the sound of voices and into the kitchen.

“Good morning beautiful~” Solerah sung, face lighting up when she saw him.

Bruce looked around, eyes landing on a clock and frowned when he read 11:43am. He had slept in so late...

“Don’t worry yourself BB. You needed a proper rest.” She chided, knowing what he was thinking from his displeased expression.

Bruce decided not to argue and moved to sit down, mumbling a good morning as he kissed Solerah’s temple. He nodded at Rick who was standing in front of the stove, cooking.

“Rick and I have been getting acquainted! I like him very much!” Solerah grinned excitedly as Rick began stacking pancakes on the table. “He likes music too!”

Bruce nodded as Rick and Solerah spoke about what they had in common and how quickly they seemed to have clicked and smiled internally. He wondered if only for this brief moment, was this what it was like to have a normal life. His wife meeting his best friend and getting along. Talking about normal things and no cares of running or government. Bruce savoured this one moment, allowing himself to commit it to memory and simply enjoy being in the moment.


	31. Chapter 31

Bruce do you trust me?” Solerah asked after Bruce once again tried to dissuade her of her idea,

“Of course.” He frowned at the insinuation that he didn’t. 

“Then shut up and let’s make memories!” She grinned, adding a skip to her step as she continued to drag Bruce along.

Solerah has spent most of yesterday watching Bruce mediate and practice his various calming techniques. She watched him with rapt interest and joining him with certain exercises. She couldn’t focus as long as he could and kept fidgeting during mediation but Bruce never told her she was bothering him or to leave. She felt bad she was taking his focus but she just genuinely wanted to join him and be apart of what was so important to him.

So when she left him to his own devices she thought of a way too incorporate her help into his ‘anti hulk out tactics’. So she dragged him out early next morning and to the nearest park with the directions Marlo gave her. She planned it all perfectly if she did say so herself and her conviction to see this through was stronger then Bruce’s apprehension.

They reached their destination, Solerah having chosen a nice spot where there wasn’t people and was shaded by a tree and she stretched her hand out expectantly for Bruce to hand her, her bag which he had taken off her when they left insisting he would be carrying it for her. Bruce gingerly handed it over with a timid expression still entirely unsure of the situation. 

She bent to the ground, placing the duffel bag down and unzipping it before handing Bruce a light blanket. He whipped it up and spread it out onto the grass. He couldn’t believe they were going to have a picnic. Honestly it just seemed a little... Embarrassing? Cheesy? Intimate? He didn’t know the word. Maybe he was just didn’t like the idea of relaxing out in the open or maybe he was just too old for such a trite idea but he wasn’t about to let a selfish reason like that break Solerah’s spirit.

He remembered a time when he was idealistic and romantic, a way he couldn’t seem to bring himself back to be again. Not after the accident. Not after everything that’s happened but he’ll be damned if he didn’t at least try. He sat down on the blanket and helped Solerah place the food and thermos out onto the blanket.

——————

“So, you still haven’t told me your ‘brilliant’ idea Sol.” Bruce said placing his finished plate down. He had to admit this was a nice idea.

Solerah smiled wide and excitedly moving to clear the space. “I wanted to give you a good memory to fall back on! You know something to think about to help calm yourself!” She explained.

“As nice as a thought that is, I don’t think a picnic will be enough to stop a change.” Bruce said sincerely though with a sad smile.

“Well don’t speak so soon BB the picnic isn’t over.” After she cleared the leftovers away and back into her bag she adjusted herself sitting so her legs were tucked to one side and patted her lap. Bruce blinked a few times before it clicked what she was implicating which bought a blush to his face.

“No no Sol-“

Solerah rolled her eyes at his protests, interrupting him by simply grabbing his shoulder and tugging him downwards so that he fell ungracefully sideways and into her lap. He shifted slightly, blush still burning down his neck. A thousand uncomfortable thoughts rushed through his head but they all trickled away the instant he felt her hand in his hair. His eyes flicked up to hers and he couldn’t help the crooked grin that slipped its way onto his lips.

He felt awkward and he didn’t know where to put his hands (he settled with placing them on his stomach) but as his eyes reached hers any anxiety he had about the situation once more disappeared. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment, the light breeze and the soft scratch of her nails sweeping through his hair. His hair had grown significantly since he shaved it and he was starting to get the spring of his old curls once more.

His breathing was getting shallow and just when he thought he couldn’t be any more relaxed Solerah started singing. He had no idea the words since it was in her own language but that didn’t effect the impact of the song at all. The melody was soft and sweet and almost ethereal. Solerah sung frequently but it was usually loud and robust, this time her voice was gentle and soothing.

He never wanted to move again. Bruce felt every ounce of tension he ever had completely leave his body. He focused entirely on the now, on everything Solerah. It was moments like this that made him fall that much harder in love with her and he would definitely be searing this memory into his brain forever.

—————

Bruce didn’t know how long they had stayed there but he gathered it was quite a number of hours considering the sun was high in the sky and there was the lively activity of park goers all around them. They walked hand in hand back to Rick’s home, Bruce still riding on the high of the pleasant endorphins his brain had so graciously released to him.

When they arrived back at Rick’s they found they were home alone, left with a note saying Rick and Marlo would be out late. Solerah had begun cleaning and putting away the dishes they had used and wrapping up the leftover food they had left. She returned to the lounge room finding Bruce on his laptop, glasses perched on his nose as his eyes narrowed in concentration. She couldn’t help but feel her stomach flip at how handsome he looked.

She moved towards him taking his laptop and placing it on the table, Bruce raised his brow but didn’t object to her actions as she delicately placed herself on his lap. She rested her hands on his shoulders and gave him a sweet smile. “Let’s see how far we can go.” She said just above her breath, bending down to kiss his neck. Bruce rested his hands on her waist and felt a devious grin spread across his face.

This was definitely going to be a day Bruce would remember fondly.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooo good ol fashion angst
> 
> Also it occurred to me some people may not know who Rick Jones is! As much as I’m following the MCU-verse I kept Bruce’s origin from the comic. I don’t know why the MCU changed it and it always bugged me. Bruce was building a Gamma bomb and Rick was a dumb kid who snuck onto the site. Bruce ran onto the field during the test count down to save Rick by shoving him in a trench but he got the full the full blast and became the Hulk. Rick traveled with Bruce at first when he originally went on the run. Anyway enjoy!

_“Let’s see how far we can go.” Solerah said just above her breath, bending down to kiss Bruce’s neck. He rested his hands on her waist and felt a devious grin spread across his face._

_It started out slow, everything had to be slow as Bruce and Solerah had pretty come to realise whenever they bordered across anything intimate. Solerah peppered kisses along Bruce’s neck as his hands drifted past her waist and down to her rear._

_They had never been able to get very far as Bruce always stopped the second he felt like things could go out of control but that’s what made him relish in the closeness they had even more. Their lips met in a heated kiss, mouths almost melding together, as he explored her mouth and held her as close to him as possible Bruce made mental notes to remember each and every feeling and sensation. The warm passion between them was like a dull fire, burning slow but still searing throughout them._

_He was-_

“Why are you in such a mood?” Rick announced, taking note of his sullen face as he broke Bruce from his thoughts while walking past him and towards the fridge.

“Just thinking about something I’ll never get to finish.” Bruce sulked, burning holes in the wall with his eyes.

Rick took a can of coke out of the fridge, he leaned his guitar against the counter before pulling up a chair beside Bruce and cracking open the ring of his can, taking a deep swig. “Solly and I have been jamming out together. That girl has got one impressive set of pipes.”

“Solly?” Bruce asked, the name sounded strange on his tongue. He didn’t like it.

“Well I called her Sol but then she warned me about how you Hulked out and almost pulverised some guy for calling her that.” Rick grinned slyly at Bruce, knowing his jealous streak.

Solly suddenly sounded like a great nickname...

“In my defence, I didn’t like the way he looked at her.” Bruce nodded, as if that made up for his actions.

“Well either way Doc l am loving her. Don’t let her go okay?” Rick frowned as Bruce made another depressed face. “Oh god what now?”

“Well...”

_“You know BB, this is surprisingly good.” Solerah said as she picked into her box of Chinese food._

_“Solerah?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Is this how you pictured your life?”_

_“Hmm, not really. I pictured more lasers and scantily clad women. So my expectations were probably a little unrealistic.”_

_“No I mean.” Bruce let out a frustrated sigh, putting his Chinese box in his lap. “Eating bad Chinese food in a motel on the run. I just wish I could give you the life you deserve.”_

_“The life l deserve is probably me in space jail.”_

_“Space jail?” Bruce deadpanned._

_“Like jail... Only in spaaace!” She raised her arms dramatically as she made jazz hands in an attempt to make Bruce laugh, she was happy when it was successful. “My point is I don’t care what my life is like as long as you’re in it.” Solerah shifted closer to Bruce, bumping foreheads with him. “I don’t need anything else.”_

“Oh no how terrible.” Rick drawled, sarcasm thick in his voice. “She loves you.”

“I’m serious Rick. Sometimes I think it would be better for everyone if I just disappeared.”

“And how exactly would it be better Doc?”

“Think of all the amazing things Solerah could of been if I didn’t come into her life and ruin it.”

“From what she’s told me if you didn’t come into her life she’d have no support while grieving the loss of her best friend.”

“Come on Rick, l even ruined your chance at ever having a normal life too.”

“What are you talking about Doc? I owe you everything! I mean I should be the one to blame! You’d have a normal life if I hadn’t snuck out onto the bomb site, you’re the one who saved me.” Rick sighed when Bruce still didn’t look convinced.

“Look you’re on the verge of having it all man. You got a wife who loves you, you’re in more control of the hulk then I’ve ever seen and so what if you’re on the run? Just find a place and settle down. Don’t you want that Doc?”

“Yes... And no... If I have it all, I’ll loose it all. That’s just fact Rick.”

“Do you regret marrying her?”

“Never.”

“Then stop worrying so much. Let yourself be happy.”

But that was just it, how could Bruce ever fully drop his guard and just be happy. Happy never worked out for him. He’s amazed that Solerah was still with him as it was and at every twist and turn he holds onto her that much tighter in fear of loosing her while at the same time almost expects it to happen.

Even so whether it be distilled hope or just force of habit Bruce kept living, he kept trying to seek a happy ending even though he didn’t believe he deserved one.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter! There is a sequel though! I hope you’ve all liked it! Please don’t be afraid to leave reviews or comments!!!

Solerah and Bruce were sitting side by side on a train, Solerah looking out the window at the rapidly changing views. “I’m gonna miss Rick and Marlo.” Solerah said as she leaned against the window. “Me too.” Bruce replied while reading a travel book, mapping out their next destination, only half paying attention to her.

“Bruce?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop thinking you don’t deserve to be happy.”

This made Bruce look up from his book and at Solerah, taking note of her serious expression.

“How did you-“

“Rick told me.”

“... Of course he did.”

“You aren’t some terrible irredeemable human. You are the most amazing, most wonderful, most perfect being I’ve ever met.” Solerah said finally looking away from the window and towards Bruce.

“Nobodies perfect Sol, especially not me.” Bruce was quick to dismiss her.

“That’s not it.” Solerah shook her head slowly. “You’re perfect to me. Perfectly imperfect and perfectly suited to me.”

“Is perfect starting to sound weird to you?” Bruce said with pathetic grin, trying to derail the conversation. 

“I wish you could understand how great I think you are... I love you more then I ever thought I could love someone.”

Bruce remained silent for the moment when Solerah didn’t give up on her point. “I’ll try.”

“You mean it?” She perked up and Bruce gave a stiff nod.

“Yeah.” He could try right? For her at least.

—————————-

Bruce felt more and more like he was cursed. He tried to keep a positive outlook and he did well changing his perspective about the good things he had but he still felt like a gambler on the wrong end of the betting table. The stakes were too high and the prize too low. It started out with small things, his lips were numb, his nose tingled and some nights his left hand twitched so badly he couldn’t even do something as simple as screw the lid of the tooth paste cap back on. He did his best to ignore all these symptoms, surely just caused by nerves, bought on by his own worry. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he knew something was wrong.

_Come on Banner, you’re a smart guy._

And it was true, he was smart. If he was one to brag he would say he was very smart. So Bruce would be smart enough to handle this right? Surely it would go away in time. He didn’t need to bring it up to Solerah and worry her. Even though he knew that she knew something was wrong with him. Bruce wasn’t about to admit it. After all, it was nothing. It was definitely NOT what he thought it was. He just needed to keep going. Keep traveling. Even though he wouldn’t fully admit it to himself, he still steered their travel into the right direction just in case. 

_Don’t look back._

_Don’t be scared._

_Stay calm._

_You aren’t allowed to be scared._

He couldn’t. Not like normal people. The odds were already stacked so high against him. When he got scared that could lead to agitation. When he got agitated that lead to anger. All that rage and fear he kept pent up ever since he was a little kid. It all comes flying out, a thousand times magnified. He was like a bomb and when he went off buildings crumble and people die. 

____———————————_ _ _ _

____Bruce turned off the bathroom light after quietly having another coughing fit and padded back to bed and got in, careful not to wake Solerah. He pulled the blanket over her, making sure she stayed warm. After all she was the metaphorical pliers in his life. The one thing he could count on to defuse the bomb that was himself._ _ _ _

_After all, that’s all you are..._

_A big green bomb..._

_Just ticking away..._

_More of a monster then a man now..._

________——————————_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Bruuuuuuuuuce~ Solerah called, trying to gain his attention._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bruce snapped out of thoughts and looked at her, to see her frowning at him. “Hmm?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You have that look on your face.” She pouted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What look?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“That self hatey look.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I do not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Do too!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No I don’t Solerah.” Bruce said firmly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Come on BB, you look much more handsome when you smile!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________That made a small shy smile tug onto his face, causing Solerah to grin back at him. “There you go!” She leaned sideways to kiss his cheek. “Much better.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Seeing Solerah’s bright smile he tried to rid himself of those thoughts. That’s right. He had a reason to keep fighting, a reason to keep going, a reason not to loose and he would keep his promise to her. He wrapped his arm around Solerah, bringing her close as he looked past her out the bus window._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________After about 20 minutes Bruce’s symptoms were starting to flare about again and he did everything to keep himself calm and under control. His eyes darted around the bus, feeling more and more closed in. He was sweating and he couldn’t keep from holding in his coughing. Solerah turned away from the window towards him and her eyes widened in worried as she saw the state of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Bruce?” She reached to touch his face, concern laced in her voice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He felt bile raise in his stomach, he couldn’t breath! He needed to get out! He quickly stood and moved down the bus to the front, with Solerah trailing behind him calling his name in worry._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Stop the bus!” He said frantically to the driver, causing the man to look at Bruce with a sneer. “I-I need to get off here please.” Bruce said more embarrassed after realising how much attention he drew._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Whatever man.” The driver scoffed and slowed the bus to a stop, opening the doors and allowing Bruce to quickly exit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Solerah followed him into the heavy rain and called his name once again when she saw him topple over onto the ground. “Bruce?!” She dropped to her knees beside him and placed her hands on his shoulders as he threw up the contents of his stomach._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Solerah rubbed his back and did her best to ease him through his sickness. He was shaking as he turned to her, grasping her hand tightly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m-I’m sick Sol-Solerah.” Bruce stuttered and Solerah wasn’t sure if it was due to the chill of the rain or from his apparent illness._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I-I thought you couldn’t get sick?” She asked nervously, her mind was racing and her heart was hammering in her chest but she needed to be brave. She needed to be strong to solve whatever was wrong. Bruce needed her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He shook his head, droplets of water falling from his hair. “I think-I think I’m really sick...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	34. Sequel!

Here is a link to the sequel!

Love Like You

http://archiveofourown.org/works/13286784/chapters/30404478


End file.
